biologists even call them "the weeds of the sea."

「海上雜草」的地步

Their main purpose in life is to breed and make babies, but the way they do that is real

他們生命的主要目的就是去播種跟生小孩，但是他們進行的方式真的是超級

weird.

奇怪的

Check out this Facebook video we made to

看看這支我們拍的臉書影片去

see how... octopuses? Do the dirty.

看章魚是怎麼.....？做這髒髒的事情。

The octopus has 8 tentacles

章魚有八隻觸手

And in the male, one of those tentacles is also

在男性當中，其中一隻觸手同時也當

a penis, well, sort of

陰莖，類似陰莖

This is the hectocotylus

這是交配腕

A specialized mating arm, with a groove that runs along tentacle

一個特別的交配手臂，這觸手上面有許許多多的凹槽

carrying packets of sperm to be distributed from the tip

挾帶著一包包要從末端被散播出去的精子

Should that special moment arrive

這種狀況應該要發生嗎？

Most octopuses live solitary, antisocial lives,

大部分的章魚過著獨居、反社會的生活

hunting and scavenging for food along ocean floor.

在海底狩獵和蒐集有用之物

However, when the time arises, they mate in a very intimate way.

然而，當時即來臨，他會以非常親密的方式交配

The male must deposit its sperm into a hole in the female's mantle

雄性章魚會將牠的精子放在雌性套膜的一個洞裡

a hole that she uses to breathe and expel waste

那個洞是女方拿來呼吸跟排泄廢物的

Or as Aristotle romantically described: "the Nostril of the Female."

或者，亞里斯多德有個浪漫的講法：「女性的鼻孔」

In a vast and sparse ocean, the opportunity to procreate is rare

在廣闊且稀疏的大海裡，要有機會生育子女是很難的

and for most octopus species, it will be the last thing they ever do

對大多數的章魚來說，這會是牠們所做的最後一件事

because for male octopuses, the prospect of mating is a dangerous one.

因為對公章魚來說，交配的前景是很危險的

You see, the female is often larger, hungrier, oh, and cannibal

因為你可以看到，母章魚通常都比較大隻、飢餓，喔！而且兇殘

So, in order to protect himself, he must make a careful and considered approach

所以說為了保護自己，他必須用一個小心謹慎且考慮周到的方式

For longer armed octopuses, the move of choice is The Reach

對於手臂很長的章魚來說，他們的選擇是「碰到就好」

To keep their distance from the cannibal female

為了與兇殘的母章魚保持距離

the male will stretch his mating arm as long as possible,

男性會盡可能地伸展他用來交配的手臂

keeping the distance while he copulates.

當他進行交媾時試圖保持距離

Some species will even wait until the female is foraging for food

有些種類的章魚還會等到雌性在覓食時

and therefore too preoccupied to eat them

而太全神貫注以至於不能吃他們

And some species have evolved beyond "the reach"

有些品種甚至演化出更甚 「碰到就好」的策略

More cautious males will simply detach their mating arm and give them to the female.

更小心地雄性會直接把他們的交配腕拆下來送給雌性

The hectocotylus will stay intact in the female's mantle until the female is ready for fertilization

交配腕會一直完整留在雌性章魚的套膜裡面，直到雌性章魚準備好要受精了

Once the copulation is complete, the octopuses' life mission is complete

當交配完成，章魚的生命任務也就完成了

Both male and female will experience a dementia-like state of being after mating called: senescence.

雄性跟雌性在交配過後都會經歷一個很像癡呆的狀態叫做：衰老

The male will experience this alone.

雄性會獨自經歷這個

They do not eat or return to their dens, and will eventually die from their weakened state.

他們不會進食亦不會回到牠們的窩，他們最後會死於他們衰弱的身體狀態

The female will devote the rest of her days to her eggs

女方會把剩餘的日子用在她的卵上

ensuring that her thousands of offspring hatch before dying of exhaustion.

確保她幾千個後代能在她累死之前好好孵化

This unconventional courtship will create 56,000 eggs.

這個不傳統的求偶方 是會製造出 56,000 顆蛋

And because the yield is stable, only 2 will survive to maturity

而因為產量是固定的，只有兩個章魚寶寶會成功活下來

Pretty crazy right? Those poor little guys. If you

想知道更多關於動物怎麼進去的，去看我們的「荒野性愛」系列

wanna know more about how animals get it on, check out our series “Wild Sex” on Seeker’s

在臉書粉專、搜尋者媒體。

Facebook page, Seeker Media.

在此期間，如果你好奇在原人跟穴居人做愛之後發生了什麼

In the meantime, if you’re curious what happened after ancient humans and neanderthals

請看這支影片

had sex, watch this video here.

還有什麼奇怪的動物是你想知道更多的呢？

Are there any other weird animals you want to know more about?

請在評論區讓我們知道，如果你還沒訂閱的話，請訂閱

Let us know down in the comments, be sure to subscribe if you haven't already and

請留言讓我們知道。你還沒訂閱我們的話要去訂閱喔！

thanks for watching Seeker!

謝謝收看 Seeker (搜尋者)