Complemental Males

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Complemental Males

 

dwarf males of certain invertebrates whose females can multiply parthenogenetically or (in the case of changing into hermaphrodites) by self-fertilization. For example, complemental male rotifers have no intestines and cannot feed themselves, so they survive only a very short time. Among the Scalpellum vulgare barnacles, the complemental males live in the mantle cavities of both the females and the hermaphrodites.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.