It's Alive Animals

Tiny creature, giant sperm

A dotted line shows the site of the sperm-moving structure called a Zenker organ in this microscope view of a Pseudocandona marchica ostracod. This tiny crustacean, a relative of shrimps and crabs, uses the organ to route extralong sperm.

s. Yamada and R. Matz ke-Karasz/Naturwissenschaften 2012

By Susan Milius

- More than 2 years ago

Crustaceans called ostracods face an unusual challenge: Their sperm can be up to 10 times as long as their bodies.