Yeah thats right they get it on with any male gamete that passes
there way. They just give a [rhymes with duck]. Boom chaka-laka-
boom. These loose lizzies are all about increasing genetic
diversity if you know what I mean. OH, I know you know what I
mean! In the latest Molecular Ecology, Johnson & Yund, explore
the promiscuity of tunicates (In order to preserve my somewhat
kid-friendly stature, I won't even go into all the possibilities
with sea squirts...but feel to in comments!). I like this study,
not only for its obvious connotations, but because multiple
paternity in a sessile critter is an interesting and fundamental
research question. Most studies of promiscuity have focused on
mobile fauna. But the uncanny Urochordata, Botryllus schlosseri,
has another interesting facet, it alternates between being male
and female, with no storage of sperm. Yeah, thats right. Being
male is just a phase that Tunicates go through. But this does
pose an interesting question. Johnson & Yund used molecular
tools, such as D