Antarctic Molluscs: Bivalve indeed!
Researchers studying the bivalves, known as Lissarca miliaris, published findings in the most recent volume of Polar Biology that suggests Antarctic molluscs switch between sexes in order to efficiently reproduce in the extreme cold. The study with Adam Reed, Ph.D student as lead author looked at males.
“Curiously, we found huge numbers of very small eggs in functional males, which appear to be far higher in number than an individual could brood throughout the life of the animal,” Reed told BBC Nature.
They found that the antarctic molluscs tend to reproduce as males in the “small” stages of development, before switching to female organs in later stages in order to bear a larger number of eggs.