Sea slug discards penis after sex

A sea slug has an unusual mating behavior - it discards its penis after copulation, grows a new one, and has sex the next day.

A sea slug has an unusual mating behavior - it discards its penis after copulation, grows a new one, and has sex the next day.

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The sea slug, Chromodoris reticulata, is a type of soft-bodied marine mollusk, and its disposable penis is very rare in the animal kingdom.

As for what happens after sex ... "The penis just falls off," lead author Ayami Sekizawa told Discovery News.

Sekizawa, a researcher at Osaka City University, and colleagues made the discovery after studying C. reticulata individuals that they collected during scuba diving trips in coral reef areas.