New Scientist tells the SHOCKING UNTOLD STORY of the steamy, sordid sex lives of fiddler crabs:
Males have one giant claw, sometimes as heavy as the rest of their body, which they use in fights. Females have two much smaller claws, yet are just as good at holding on to their territory.
A willingness to offer sex to male neighbours seems to be behind this success, says Milner. He studied crabs on South African and Mozambican beaches and found males frequently defending the burrows of neighbouring females when rival males approached. Milner and colleagues also found 85 per cent of the mating they observed was between crabs with neighbouring burrows.
“I SLEPT WITH MY NEIGHBOR – TO AVOID THE ABUSE FROM HIS LARGE, SAVAGE CLAWS!”