In biology, mating is the pairing of either opposite-sex or hermaphroditic organisms for the purposes of sexual reproduction. Fertilization is the fusion of two gametes. Copulation is the union of the sex organs of two sexually reproducing animals for insemination and subsequent internal fertilization. Mating may also lead to external fertilization, as seen in amphibians, fishes and plants. For most species, mating is between two individuals of opposite sexes. However, for some hermaphroditic species, copulation is not required because the parent organism is capable of self-fertilization (autogamy); for example, banana slugs.
Animal sexual behaviour takes many different forms, including within the same species. Common mating or reproductively motivated systems include monogamy, polygyny, polyandry, polygamy and promiscuity. Other sexual behaviour may be reproductively motivated or non-reproductively motivated.
Sexual conflict or sexual antagonism occurs when the two sexes have conflicting optimal fitness strategies concerning reproduction, particularly over the mode and frequency of mating, potentially leading to an evolutionary arms race between males and females. In one example, males may benefit from multiple matings, while multiple matings may harm or endanger females due to the anatomical differences of that species. Sexual conflict underlies the evolutionary distinction between male and female.
Pseudocerotidae is a family of flatworms which includes the Bedford's flatworm. Pseudocerotidae are simple organisms categorized by their oval bodies and tentacles and bright colors. They use the cilia to glide along surfaces. Most commonly referred to as marine flatworms, closely related to the orders Macrostomorpha and Lecithoepitheliata. These organisms have very complex reproductive systems, no blood systems or organs for gas exchange, a simple brain and are hermaphroditic.
Pseudoceros is a genus of the flatworms Platyhelminthes.
Traumatic insemination, also known as hypodermic insemination, is the mating practice in some species of invertebrates in which the male pierces the female's abdomen with his aedeagus and injects his sperm through the wound into her abdominal cavity (hemocoel). The sperm diffuses through the female's hemolymph, reaching the ovaries and resulting in fertilization.
Pseudobiceros is a genus of flatworms. Like all flatworms, Pseudobiceros are hermaphrodites. This particular genus engages in penis fencing. When the "winner" touches its penis to the "skin" of the other, insemination occurs, and the "loser" has to bear the burden of motherhood.
Pseudobiceros hancockanus is a species of hermaphroditic marine flatworm in the family Pseudocerotidae. It is also known as Hancock's Flatworm.
A love dart is a sharp, calcareous or chitinous dart which some hermaphroditic land snails and slugs create. Love darts are both formed and stored internally in a dart sac. These darts are made in sexually mature animals only, and are used as part of the sequence of events during courtship, before actual mating takes place. Darts are quite large compared to the size of the animal: in the case of the semi-slug genus Parmarion, the length of a dart can be up to one fifth that of the semi-slug's foot.
Gastropteridae, the bat-winged slugs, is a family of sea slugs, gastropod molluscs in the superfamily Philinoidea of the clade Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs and bubble snails. The greatest diversity of these colourful small slugs is in the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific region.
Pseudobiceros bedfordi is a species of flatworm in the family Pseudocerotidae.
Maritigrella crozierae, the tiger flatworm, is a species of marine polyclad flatworm in the family Euryleptidae. It is found on the eastern coasts of North America and the Caribbean Sea where it feeds on colonial sea squirts.
Siphopteron quadrispinosum is a species of small sea slug, a marine opisthobranch gastropod mollusc in the order Cephalaspidea, the headshield slugs. This slug is a simultaneous hermaphrodite.
Thysanozoon nigropapillosum is a species of polyclad flatworms belonging to the family Pseudocerotidae. Some common names include Gold-speckled flatworm, Marine flatworm, Yellow papillae flatworm, Yellow-spotted flatworm, and Yellow-spotted polyclad flatworm.
The mating of gastropods is a vast and varied topic, because the taxonomic class Gastropoda is very large and diverse, a group comprising sea snails and sea slugs, freshwater snails and land snails and slugs. Gastropods are second only to the class Insecta in terms of total number of species. Some gastropods have separate sexes, others are hermaphroditic. Some hermaphroditic groups have simultaneous hermaphroditism, whereas some sequential hermaphroditism. In addition, numerous very different mating strategies are used within different taxa.
Macrostomum hystrix is a free-living flatworm in the family Macrostomidae. It is small, transparent, and a simultaneous hermaphrodite.
Alderia modesta is a species of sea slug, a marine gastropod mollusc in the family Limapontiidae. It is found in estuarine habitats and saltmarshes on either side of the North Atlantic and the North Pacific Oceans.
Phestilla minor is a species of sea slug in the Trichechidae family. It is a type of aeolid nudibranch under the Aeolidina suborder. Phestilla minor is a benthic sea slug that is a very small, slow-moving organism found in marine habitats all over the world.
Pseudoceros canadensis, commonly known as the Puget flatworm, is a species of free-living flatworm in the genus Pseudoceros, belonging to the family Pseudocerotidae.
Self-insemination is a mating behavior engaged in by multiple flatworm species, such as the free-living Macrostomum hystrix, and some sea slugs. Species that engage in this method of reproduction are hermaphroditic, meaning they possess both male and female reproductive organs. Selfing is referred to as a conditional reproductive strategy in this species, which means that there is a preference to reproduce with a mate.
