A June full moon is glowing upon this reef in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Beneath the surface, 17,000 camouflage groupers dart about in the cloudy water. What you’re witnessing is, in fact, an underwater orgy— turned feeding frenzy. The water is hazy because groupers are ejecting sperm and eggs in dense clouds. This spawning behavior happens during full and new moons, when strong tidal currents carry the fertilized eggs away from corals and other voracious predators on the reef. An orgy might seem like a rather flamboyant way to breed, but sex in the sea is a surprisingly inventive affair.
六月的滿月正照耀著 太平洋中央的這座珊瑚礁。 海平面下,17,000 隻 清水石斑魚正在混濁的水中快速游動, 你眼前的這副景象, 其實是場水下的性愛狂歡, 但很快地就成了眾鯊爭相搶食的大餐。 水之所以混濁不清,是因為石斑魚 正在噴出高密度的精子與卵子。 這種產卵行為在新月與滿月時發生, 那時強勁的潮流會將這些受精卵 從珊瑚蟲與珊瑚礁中的 貪婪掠食者身邊帶走。 性愛狂歡看起來是華麗的繁衍方式, 但海中性愛是十分有創意的風流韻事。
In fact, most of those voracious corals use male and female sex organs at the same time. Corals also have mass spawning episodes, but they release buoyant bundles of eggs and sperm all at once. This happens around half-moons, when weaker tides calm the water’s surface, creating the perfect conditions for their sex cells to couple up. During these events, there can be hundreds of coral eggs and more than a billion sperm floating in every liter of surface seawater, where they create a sticky slick.
事實上,這些飢渴的珊瑚蟲 大多都同時使用 雄性與雌性的生殖器官。 珊瑚也會大量產卵, 但牠們卻會一次噴出精卵束。 這種行為可在上下弦月時見到, 這時的潮汐較弱,海平面趨於平穩, 為珊瑚生殖細胞的配對創造完美條件。 在產卵過程中,一公升的表層海水裡, 可能就漂浮著數百顆卵 與超過十億個精子, 讓水變得黏糊。
But corals are far from the only animals in the sea that can express two sexes. Nearby, a humphead wrasse is undergoing a remarkable transformation. These fish breed in groups where one male fertilizes several females. And, likely because there aren’t many dominant males around, the largest female is becoming one. Unlike corals, humphead wrasse can switch sexes, but they only exhibit one sex at a time. The wrasse changes colors, loses her eyeline, and grows dramatically. Soon, the metamorphosis is complete, and he can fertilize the females’ eggs, ensuring that procreation persists. Interestingly, this bluestreak cleaner wrasse that’s grooming the humphead was also once a female. But unlike the humphead, he can change sex again should he become single.
但珊瑚蟲不是海洋中 唯一具雙性特徵的動物。 在這附近,有隻龍王鯛 正在經歷一場非凡的變身。 這些魚會集體繁殖, 一隻公魚會使許多母魚受精, 也許是因為這附近沒有 多少較強勢的公魚, 最大的母魚正在變成公魚。 和珊瑚蟲不同的是, 龍王鯛能轉換自己的性別, 但一次只能擁有單一性徵。 這隻龍王鯛轉換體色,掉了眼線, 體型也變得巨大。 很快地,她變性完成, 現在他能讓雌魚的卵受精, 確保繼續繁衍。 有趣的是,這隻正在清掃 龍王鯛的裂唇魚 也曾是隻母魚。 但和龍王鯛不同的是, 在他恢復單身後,又能再度切換性別。
About 7,000 kilometers away, in the shallows of eastern Australia, this male mourning cuttlefish boasts a much sneakier mating strategy. A female cuttlefish has garnered his attention, but she’s also attracted another male. Competing directly with this rival would be a demanding ordeal, so the cuttlefish opts for trickery instead. Positioning himself between the female and his rival, on one side, he displays a mottled skin pattern resembling that of a female to appease the competitor. On the other, he flashes a shimmering courtship display at the female and covertly passes her parcels of sperm. This duplicitous strategy allows the male to reproduce without putting up a fight.
大約在 7,000 公里外, 澳洲東方的淺水處, 這隻公墨魚想出了 一個更鬼祟的求偶策略。 一隻母墨魚吸引了他的注意, 但她也吸引了另一隻公墨魚。 直接和對手競爭 是很耗時費力的嚴峻考驗, 所以這隻公墨魚決定用詭計取勝。 將自己卡入雌性與雄性敵手之間, 在這面,他展示了斑駁的花紋, 用類似雌性的花樣來安撫競爭者; 在另外一面,它則對雌性 展現亮麗的紋路以示追求, 並偷偷地將精子接二連三遞給她。 這種雙面策略讓雄性 不用打架就能繁衍後代。
These sexual escapades are just a sampling of what goes on beneath the waves. The striking diversity of sex in the sea is partially enabled by water’s unique physical properties. Its stable temperature and high density help preserve and disperse reproductive cells. Unless land organisms return to the water to reproduce or have specially adapted sex cells, their options are limited. For many terrestrial animals, reproduction is usually only possible internally, with organs that resemble the moist ocean environment.
這些危險而奇妙的性愛, 只是海平面下方的冰山一角。 海洋中這樣驚人多樣的性愛 某部分也歸功於水的獨特物理性質。 水穩定的溫度與高密度 有助於保存與擴散 生殖細胞。 除非陸生生物回到水中繁衍, 或是擁有特殊的性器, 否則他們沒有太多選擇。 對許多陸生動物來說, 繁衍通常都需要體內交合, 使用相似於潮濕海洋環境的性器。
This restriction may cause us to see only one facet of sex, but a brief tour of marine life shows us just how diverse sex really is. It does not always involve strictly female and male individuals with differently sized sex cells that fuse internally. Many algae, for example, have sex cells that are indistinguishable in size. Some animals are both male and female, while others change sex. A large proportion of organisms don’t need to touch each other to reproduce. And thousands of animals, from bluestreak cleaner wrasse to Humboldt squid, participate in same-sex sexual behavior. So, peeking beneath the ocean’s covers doesn’t just provide a spectacle. It also gives us a more complete appreciation of sex in all its fascinating forms.
這種限制可能會讓我們 只看見性的一個面向, 但短短的海洋生物之旅 就讓我們看見性的多樣性。 性不總是發生在雄性與雌性個體之間, 也不一定和不同尺寸的 生殖細胞結合有關。 例如,許多海藻的生殖細胞 都難以用尺寸區分。 有些動物是雙性, 而有些動物則會改變性別。 有一堆動物都不需要碰到對方, 就能繁衍下一代。 從裂唇魚到美洲大赤魷, 數千種動物都會進行同性性行為。 所以,窺探海洋深處,不只 讓我們進行一場奇觀之旅, 也給了我們一個更完整的機會, 欣賞性愛的各種奇妙形式。