Therefore those
who say that all fish are female and lay eggs without copulation are
plainly speaking unscientifically from this point of view also. For it
is a wonderful thing to suppose that the former animals lay eggs in
consequence of copulation and that fish do not; if again they were
unaware of this, it is a sign of ignorance. The union of all these
creatures lasts a considerable time, as in insects, and naturally
so, for they are bloodless and therefore of a cold nature.
In the sepias and calamaries or squids the eggs appear to be two,
because the uterus is divided and appears double, but that of the
poulps appears to be single. The reason is that the shape of the
uterus in the poulp is round in form and spherical, the cleavage being
obscure when it is filled with eggs. The uterus of the carabi is
also bifid. All these animals also lay an imperfect egg for the same
reason as fishes. In the carabi and their like the females produce
their eggs so as to keep them attached to themselves, which is why the
side-flaps of the females are larger than those of the males, to
protect the eggs; the cephalopoda lay them away from themselves. The
males of the cephalopoda sprinkle their milt over the females, as
the male fish do over the eggs, and it becomes a sticky and
glutinous mass, but in the carabi and their like nothing of the sort
has been seen or can be naturally expected, for the egg is under the
female and is hard-shelled.
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