ASK CLAUDIO - DISCOVER THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE SCENES
Learn more about the wacky world of underwater marine sex with GREEN PORNO's marine biologist, Dr. Claudio Campagna!
CLICK ON AN ANIMAL TO LEARN MORE:
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EASY TARGETS
Ten-legged, bottom-dwelling animals that swim backwards in large schools, in almost all oceans and some freshwater environments of the world. Shrimps live in schools of thousands of individuals, easy targets for nets. Above all their qualities, the most determinant of their fate is being tasty. Humans love to eat the adults, but turning into one requires going through several stages.
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A FRIENDLY TRANSACTION
Most species of shrimp come as male and female, and mate to reproduce. Mating occurs when females are molting the carapace and their bodies are soft. Males transfer sperm in sacs called spermatophores close to the opening of the female's genital duct. When the female releases her many thousands of eggs, they are fertilized as they pass by the spermatophores. Females brood the eggs during incubation. When eggs hatch, they start the series of metamorphosis that, in about two weeks, yield an adult.
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DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LADY
An unusual biological quality characterizes a few species of shrimp. They are sequential hermaphrodites, being male first and, later in life, females.
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TERRIBLE TRAWLERS
A few million tons of shrimp are caught every year in nets and traps. These animals are also farmed. Shrimp trawling is a technique that uses nets that capture the target species together with all other accompanying species that intercept the net's path. The end result is that for every pound of shrimp caught, up to 20 pounds of other species are wasted, thrown back to the ocean dead or dying. Trawl shrimp fisheries are an enormous threat to the abundance and diversity of life.
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THE HIGH COST OF SHRIMP
The cultivation of shrimp in farms is possible and may be good business. But the aquaculture shrimp require is a pristine environment that is ruined by a process that generates waste and habitat destruction for all other creatures.
