Quick Change Artists
Cross-Dressing Males
With between four and 11 males for
every female on the breeding ground, competition among Giant
cuttlefish is fierce. Smallish males, rather than duke it out, take
on the guise of females and try to sneak their way to matings. In
this image, a male with the mottled color pattern of a female
cruises under a large male and toward a female. Females are usually
quite receptive to these mimics, and the mimicry is so effective
that it sometimes fools other cross-dressers, leading two mimics to
try to mate with each other.