Georges Cuvier's original illustration of an octopus hectocotylus, which he named Hectocotyle octopodis
A hectocotylus (pl.: hectocotyli) is one of the arms of male cephalopods that is specialized to store and transfer spermatophores to the female.[1] Structurally, hectocotyli are muscular hydrostats. Depending on the species, the male may use it merely as a conduit to the female, analogously to a penis in other animals, or he may wrench it off and present it to the female.
The hectocotyl arm was first described in Aristotle's biological works. Although Aristotle knew of its use in mating, he was doubtful that a tentacle could deliver sperm. The name hectocotylus was devised by Georges Cuvier, who first found one embedded in the mantle of a female argonaut. Supposing it to be a parasitic worm, in 1829 Cuvier gave it a generic name,[2][3][4][5]
combining the Greek word for "hundred" and Latin word for "hollow thing, cup".
^Roger T. Hanlon; John B. Messenger (22 March 2018). Cephalopod Behaviour. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-108-54674-4.
^Leroi, Armand Marie (25 September 2014). The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science. Penguin. ISBN 9780698170391.
^Thompson, D'Arcy Wentworth (1913). On Aristotle as a biologist, with a prooemion on Herbert Spencer. Being the Herbert Spencer Lecture before the University of Oxford, on February 14, 1913. Oxford University Press. p. 19.
^Nixon M.; Young J.Z. (2003). The brains and lives of Cephalopods. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198527619.
^"GBIF:Hectocotylus Cuvier, 1829". Retrieved 21 November 2016.
distance. During copulation, the hectocotylus breaks off from the male. The funnel–mantle locking apparatus on the hectocotylus keeps it lodged in the pallial...
grow after the paralarval stage, and the use of a penis, instead of a hectocotylus. Genus Octopoteuthis Octopoteuthis danae Octopoteuthis deletron Octopoteuthis...
When octopuses reproduce, the male uses a specialised arm called a hectocotylus to transfer spermatophores (packets of sperm) from the terminal organ...
all. As an example, the intromittent organ of most Cephalopoda is the hectocotylus, a specialized arm, and male spiders use their pedipalps. Even within...
meters. Male with attached hectocotylus that has broken free from its sac Cut-away drawing of the viscera Details of the hectocotylus O. tuberculata paralarva...
of most cephalopods develop a specialised arm for sperm delivery, the hectocotylus. Anatomically, cephalopod limbs function using a crosshatch of helical...
the male, which is specially adapted for the purpose and known as a hectocotylus, and placed inside the mantle cavity of the female during mating. The...
more than 1 m (3.3 ft) long using his hectocotylus (specialized arm) in the female's mantle. The hectocotylus is found on the third arm of male octopuses...
hectocotylus, an arm tip which is capable of transferring their spermatozoa into the female mantle cavity. Though not all species use a hectocotylus;...
have a large arm in a spherical pouch modified for mating, known as a hectocotylus. During mating, this arm is detached, and kept by the female in her mantle...
spermatophore production. Most cephalopods use a specialized arm called the hectocotylus to deliver spermatophores to the female. The spermatophores of the giant...
modified arm called a hectocotylus. That in turn is used to transfer the spermatophores to the female. In species where the hectocotylus is missing, the "penis"...
been observed, and unlike other octopuses, members of Cirrata lack a hectocotylus for the transfer of sperm packets. Cirrate octopus eggs are large and...
Lateral view of adult male with hectocotylus The third right arm in male blanket octopus is called the hectocotylus, which has a sperm-filled pouch between...
the hectocotylus, which is inserted into the female's mantle cavity to deliver a spermatophore during copulation. In some species, the hectocotylus breaks...
Sepiolidae) from Australia" (PDF). museumsvictoria.com.au. "Evolution of the hectocotylus in Sepiolinae (Cephalopoda: Sepiolidae) and description of four new genera"...
fertilisation, called the hectocotylus, is borne on the left ventral arm. The oral surface of the modified region of the hectocotylus is wide, swollen, and...
left or right arm develops into a secondary sexual organ known as the hectocotylus. It is of equal length or shorter than the undeveloped opposite arm and...
Mating has never been observed in O. californiana; the males lack the hectocotylus of typical octopus, instead having a series of enlarged suckers that...
have adjacent dens, where the male is able to extend his mating arm (hectocotylus) to the female's den, while resting in his own. These two individuals...
survival and for reproduction: the specialized reproductive arm (the hectocotylus) detaches from the male during mating and remains within the female's...
arrangement of tentacular photophores; the shape of the hectocotylus, and the shape of the hectocotylus hooks. With the exception of the Tropical Eastern Pacific...
One of the ventral arms develops into a secondary sexual organ (the hectocotylus) in males. All ommastrephids are active predators. Their arms and tentacles...
of arms. The additional hectocotylus does not contain ligula. Because of this, it is characterized as an accessory hectocotylus and is still used in the...
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