From ScienceDaily:
While other squid reproduce all at once late in their lives, vampire squid appear to alternate between reproductive and resting phases. It’s a pattern of multiple spawning more common among fish.
The researchers have now characterized the reproductive status of more than 40 vampire squid females. They report that one female in the sample, despite being in a reproductive resting phase, had released at least 3,800 eggs yet still retained 6,500 viable oocytes for future spawning. Assuming an average batch size of 100 eggs, the researchers suggest that this one female had already spawned about 38 times, with eggs in reserve for another 65 or so spawning episodes.
Dawinism did not predict this, but as readers will see if they read the rest of the release, Darwinism can “explain” it.
Apparently, developing new reproductive systems by natural selection acting on random mutation (Darwinism) is no big deal.
95% of the ocean is still unexplored, and here’s a prediction: Lots of things will be discovered that know not Darwin, nor his followers.
Here’s the abstract:
Coleoid cephalopods are thought to go through only one reproductive cycle in their life. We here report that vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) show evidence of multiple reproductive cycles. Female vampire squid spawn their eggs, then return to a resting reproductive state, which is followed by the development of a new batch of eggs. This reproductive cycle is likely to be repeated more than twenty times. This combination of reproductive traits is different from that of any other extant coleoid cephalopod. (paywall) – Henk-Jan T. Hoving, Vladimir V. Laptikhovsky, Bruce H. Robison. Vampire squid reproductive strategy is unique among coleoid cephalopods. Current Biology, 2015; 25 (8): R322 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2015.02.018
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