Sexual dimorphism is apparent, with the left ventral arm in males modified into a hectocotylus; this is used to facilitate fertilization during mating.
12.
How the sperm is transferred to the egg mass is much debated, as giant squid lack the hectocotylus used for reproduction in many other cephalopods.
13.
In species where the hectocotylus is missing, the " penis " is long and able to extend beyond the mantle cavity and transfers the spermatophores directly to the female.
14.
In species where the hectocotylus is missing, the " penis " is long and able to extend beyond the mantle cavity and transfer the spermatophores directly to the female.
15.
The " penis " in most male cephalopods is a long and muscular end of the gonoduct used to transfer spermatophores to a modified sperm-carrying arm called a hectocotylus.
16.
The " penis " in most unshelled male cephalopods ( Coleoidea ) is a long and muscular end of the gonoduct used to transfer spermatophores to a modified arm called a hectocotylus.
17.
For example, he recorded that male octopuses have a hectocotylus, a tentacle which stores sperm and which can transfer it into the female's body; sometimes it snaps off during mating.
18.
The hectocotylus of the males in this genus, found on the third right arm, is long and narrow in comparison with other genera in the family Octopodidae, often comprising one fifth the length of the arm.
19.
The term " penis " applies to many intromittent organs, but not to all; for example the intromittent organ of most cephalopoda is the hectocotylus, a specialised arm, and male spiders use their pedipalps.
20.
Since males lack an organ called a hectocotylus ( an arm used in other cephalopods to transfer a spermatophore to the female ), they probably use a penis instead, which would be used to directly implant sperm into females.
