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Courtship
and Mating
Pictures of Marine Wildlife, Birds, Frogs, and Reptiles |
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Mating is
the pairing of opposite sex animals, either for copulation,
or for external fertilization of eggs by sperm. Often,
very complicated and beautiful courtship displays
precede the mating. In many species the female will
be larger than the male, and males compete for the
right to mate. Some species, such as nudibranchs,
are hermaphrodites with both male and female sex
organs.
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Picture of Northern
elephant seals, Mirounga angustirostris, mating.
Sandy beach rookery, winter, Central California.
Picture #: 044762 |
Image of mating Mandarin
fish, Synchiropus spendidus, Bunaken, Indonesia
Picture #: 046547 |
Stock photo of olive
ridley sea turtles, Lepidochelys
olivacea, mating, Costa Rica, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 003546 |
Photo of Atlantic spotted
dolphins, Stenella frontalis, mating, male underneath,
Bahamas, Caribbean Sea, Atlantic Ocean
Picture #: 005079 |
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Picture of courtship
of southern stingray, Dasyatis
americana, smaller
male chases larger female, at night, Bahamas, West
Atlantic
Picture #: 005855 |
Image of spinner dolphins,
Stenella longirostris, mating, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 010713 |
Stock photo of pair
of pipefish, Corythoichthys
haematopterus, embracing
in a mating display, Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi,
Indonesia, Pacific Ocean.
Picture #: 046602 |
Photo of Adelie penguins,
Pygoscelis adeliae, mock mating out of
mating season on the beach on Paulet Island, Antarctic
Peninsula. Adelie penguins are truly an ice dependant
penguin species.
Picture #: 057068 |
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Picture of a pair of
mating loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta
caretta, in
Palm Beach, Florida. Approximately half of the world's
population of 20,000 loggerheads call Florida
home.
Picture #: 064975 |
Image of a pair of mating
squat shrimp, Thor amboinensis. Also known
as squat anemone shrimp, sexy shrimp, or dancing
shrimp. Anilao, Philippines. Pacific
Picture #: 046592 |
Stock photo of humpback
whales, Megaptera novaeangliae, courtship
behavior. Female whale blows bubbles toward male
as it approaches, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean
Picture #: 013735 |
Photo of mating toads,
Bufo bufo, Germany, Bavaria
Picture #: 051598 |
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Picture of wandering
albatross, Diomedea exulans, exhibiting
courtship behavior on Prion Island, Bay of
Isles, Southern Atlantic Ocean. The wandering albatross
is the largest bird in the world
with a wingspan of over 11 feet. There are roughly
60 pairs of wandering albatross that nest on Prion
Island, half that number in any given year. Prion
Island is one of the few remaining rat-free islands
in South Georgia.
Picture #: 057232 |
Image of nurse sharks
mating, Ginglymostoma cirratum, Florida, Atlantic
Picture #: 024736 |
Stock photo of A pair
of nudibranchs, Nembrotha lineolata, getting into
the mating or copulating position. All nudibranchs
are simultaneous hermaphrodites. They have fully
functional male and female organs producing both
egg and sperm. When nudibranchs copulate they must
position themselves side by side to align their external
genitalia. One faces one direction while the partner
faces the opposite direction. Nelson Bay, east coast
Australia. Pacific Ocean.
Picture #: 042807 |
Photo of white
terns, Gygis alba, pair copulating or mating in ironwood
tree on Sand Island, Midway Atoll, Northwest Hawaiian
Islands
Picture #: 019017 |
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Picture of mating pair
of green sea turtles, Chelonia
mydas, with additional
interloper males attempting to dislodge the primary
male. Sipadan Island, Malaysia.
Picture #: 045183 |
Image of two spot
clingfish, Diplecogaster bimaculatus, spawning,
Øygarden, Hordaland,
Norway, North Atlantic Ocean
Picture #: 072154 |
Stock photo of saltwater
crocodile, Crocodylus porosus, mating, the
male climbs on top of female
Picture #: 031039 |
Photo of pair of American
Wigeon ducks, Anas americana, mating, Back
Bay Reserve, California
Picture #: 079567 |
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