EDITORIAL GAYLES.TV.- A year ago, at this time, we published the editorial "Of animals and homosexuals" based on the splendid article of the biologist Marc Arenas Camps qualified "Homosexuality is very animal". In it, Marc tells us that in nature there are more than 1.500 animal species with habitual behaviors that could be considered homosexuals.
Marc Arenas surprises us now again with a reflection on transsexuality in the animal kingdom in the article "The change of sex is also a matter of animals". With his usual amusing and informative tone, Marc explains how certain animals, especially fish, molluscs, crustaceans, jellyfish, echinoderms and annelids, change their sex throughout their lives in what is known as sequential hermaphroditism.
You can access the text following the link of the article but we considered it opportune to reproduce Marc's article here in full.
We take this opportunity to thank Marc Arenas for giving us the first of this interesting article and recommend you do not miss the blog he runs: "All you need is biology", an LGTBI space fríendly dedicated to the dissemination of topics related to biology.
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CHANGE OF SEX IS ALSO ANIMAL THING
The change of sex is not only present in the human being (known as transsexuality), but there are some examples of animal species that change sex, that is, male or female are born and, throughout their lives, they change sex opposite. Do you want to know some of these species? Remember that you can also read an article in this blog about Homosexuality in the animal kingdom.
TRANSEXUALITY IN ANIMALS
The change of sex in animals is not very widespread, but it is present above all among fish and some mollusks,Jellyfish, crustaceans, echinoderms and worms.
However, in the case of animals, the term used is not that of transsexuality. Sex change in the animal kingdom is a particular type of hermaphroditism: sequential hermaphroditism.
Such a gender change is normally genetically programmed and influenced by the environment in which it is developed. However, at birth they already have both sexes, so that the sex determination it is not given by the genes.
There are different types of sequential hermarthiticism:
- Protandria: when the organism is born male and changes to female, as is the case the clownfish (genus Amphiprion).
- Protogynia: when the organism is born female and changes to male, like the labrids.
- Bidirectional sex change: when the organism has complete female and male sexual organs, but acts as male or female during different stages of its life; as is the case of the fish Lythrypnus dalli.
What is clear is that this strategy is an important advantage over other species: under extreme conditions, organisms have the ability to ensure future generations with the change of sex.
THE CLOWN FISH
The clownfish is one of the best-known examples of sex change in the animal kingdom. Our friend Nemo, throughout his life is going to become a female. Clownfish are all born male, but after a certain age they change their sex. They can also change their sex if the female in the group dies, so even though Nemo's mother died, he found his mother in his father as well.
The form of reproduction of these colorful and well-known fish is the most curious: in each anemone, animals cnidarians with those who live in symbiosis, lives a harem, consisting of a female (larger in size than the male), a breeding male, and several non-breeding males.
If the female dies, the reproductive male becomes a female and the larger non-reproductive male matures sexually.
JANTINIDOS
The quintinids are a group of marine snails with a very special feature: they use their drools to produce bubble rafts, which they use to float in the ocean. The most skilled can get to form one bubble per minute.
Well, this family of gastropods is made up of individuals who can change sex. Like clown fish, organisms are born male and then change to female.
TREAT CLEANER
The cleaning thrush (Labroides dimidiatus) is a labric fish, in which the sex change is due to certain patterns of behavior.
Normally, there is a dominant male that maintains a harem of females, but if it dies, the dominant female will assume the position of the male in a few hours, courting other females although the sex change may take about two weeks.
LAPA SNEAKER: SIZE QUESTION
There is a marine snail, the slipper lapa (Crepidula fornicata), that their change is controlled by the size of individuals. These molluscs are born as males but, from a certain size, they become females.
These are snails of the most curious: they live stacked one on top of the other, with the larger organisms at the bottom. This means that the specimen of the base is a female and the upper ones are male. Thus, when the female dies, the larger male becomes the female of the group.
It is a exotic species in Spain, which could be occupying the entire Galician coast. However, its natural range is North America.
IN THE MEDITERRANEAN IT ALSO PASSES
So far we have seen only species that live far from us, but the truth is that this behavior is also present in some species of the Mediterranean Sea. Some examples are thecaptain starGibbose asterine) or the green fish (Thalassoma turkey).
The green fish is one of the most colorful and colorful that live in the waters of the Mediterranean. In this case, at birth they are females, but depending on the sex ratio, they can become males.
REFLECTION
If you are one of those who think that the change of sex in the human being is something unnatural, you see that in nature there are multiple examples of animals that do just this
MARC ARENAS CAMPS
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Sources: All you need is biology
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