Hi

Some land slugs perform complex mating rituals.

Alex
----- Original Message -----
From: Andrew K. Rindsberg <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, January 13, 2001 12:26 AM
Subject: Re: Check


> Allen Aigen writes, "Sex only between two consenting mollusks?  I would
have
> assumed that
> there would be many cases of rape, if not just attempted rape, between
> mollusks."
>
> Hmmm ... We would be better off to let wiser heads prevail. In all truth,
> there is little that is inspirational for humans in the sexual activity of
> mollusks, which ranges from casual (in many clams) to transsexual
(oysters;
> crepidulas) to sadomasochistic (land snails) to necrophiliac (some
squids).
> I should emphasize that these are their normal behaviors, not aberrations
> induced in captivity.
>
> Still, there are a few mollusks that court mates (if only for a one-night
> stand) and/or care tenderly for their young. For extra points, who can
name
> such a bivalve, gastropod, or cephalopod?
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg