In some species of deep-sea anglerfish, the male lives as a symbiont permanently attached to the female (see Gould 1983, essay 1). The male is tiny compared to the female. Many of the male’s organs, including the eyes, are reduced, though the testes remain large. Other structures, such as the jaws and teeth, are modified for attachment to the female. The circulatory systems of the two sexes are fused, and the male receives all of his nutrition from the female via the shared bloodstream. Often, two or more males are attached to a single female. What are the costs and benefits of the male’s symbiotic habit for the male? For the female? What limits the lifetime reproductive success of each sex— the ability to gather resources, or the ability to find mates? Do you think that the male’s symbiotic habit evolved as a result of sexual selection or natural selection? (It may be helpful to break the male symbiotic syndrome into separate features, such as staying with a single female for life, physical attachment to the female, reduction in body size, and nutritional dependence on the female.)
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