"Female Trout, Faking Orgasms"!!!

Caddis

wanna be fly fisher.
Here's a story that was published in May of 2002. I thought it was pretty funny, so I will pass it on to you! -enjoy.


GOTEBORG, SWEDEN - Swedish scientists have found that female brown trout fake orgasms in about half of their spawnings.

Most coy female tricked the males eight times before the real spawning
Erik Peterrson of Sweden's National Board of Fisheries said out of 117 spawnings they observed, 69 were false orgasms.

During a normal spawning, the female digs a gravel pit for the eggs. When she prepares to mate, she crouches down to protect the nest, opens her mouth and starts to quiver intensely.

The male then swims alongside the female, assumes the same position,opens his mouth and starts to quiver as well.

After a few seconds, the female releases her eggs and the male fertilizes them.

But the researchers found that sometimes the female fakes it and doesn't release her eggs when the male releases his sperm.

Peterrson said the sperm have to be directly over the eggs or the fertilization rate is very low. He thinks the female fakes it if the male isn't in exactly the right position.

Confused males

"If she feels he is not in the right position or timing, she just stops the process," Peterrson said to CBC Radio's As It Happens. "But the male, he is so excited that he misinterprets the female's cues and goes the whole way. He's a little bit tricked there."

He added the male looks a little confused because when the female fakes orgasm, she doesn't cover the eggs as she would during a normal spawning.

Instead, she may dig some more to prepare the gravel pit for the next mating in about 30 minutes.

And it seems trout aren't alone. Researchers first saw this in Atlantic salmon in 1954. They now think it's common in all salmon.

- Written by, CBS News, Science Staff
 
Well I might argue the point that trout aren't smart....they're "smart" enough not to eat a poor imitation or even a good one used a poor time.....also the female may use this as a way to not waste the reproductive potential of her eggs....who knows...as the Native american I met in Alaska said when asked what the fish were biting on...."I don't know the fish don't talk"....
 
It could help with funding I'm sure..Also I think "smart" is one of those BIG words...WHere does cognitive thought start(if it does) and where does instinct end.??? Whatever it's all good as long as they have lots and lots of little fishes for us all to catch....
 
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