As Season Ends, Female Gobies Get Desperate
Early in the springtime, female gobies are often shy or reluctant when it comes to male advances. This changes, however, as the season progresses and the number of males dwindles.
Alive for only a year, females become desperate to fertilize their eggs before the season ends.
Scientists studying the mating habits of two-spotted gobies in the cold Nordic waters, discovered that male and female goby roles are reversed as the ratio of male to females changes. As summer sets in and the number of males diminishes and the remaining males show less of an interest in mating, female gobies will initiate mating and will almost always accept a male’s advances.
Professor Trond Amundsen, leading scientist in the study, said, "It is time to realize that sex roles of animals are not fixed-- Like us, animals adjust their sexual behaviors to competition and sexual opportunities.”
Read more about the Goby role-reversal in the ScienceDaily article.
