At birth, male Ceratiidae are already equipped with well-developed olfactory organs that can easily detect scents in the water. These sensitive olfactory organs help to detect the pheromones that signal the proximity of a female.




Male Ceratiidae are significantly smaller than their female counterparts, and due to their smaller size, they tend to have trouble finding food in the deep sea. This necessitates his quickly finding a female to prevent his death.




When he finds a female, he bites into her skin and releases an enzyme that digests the skin of his mouth and her body; causing the pair to fuse down to the blood-vessel level. The male then slowly atrophies, first losing his digestive organs, then his brain, his heart, his eyes, until he is nothing more than a pair of testicles. He then releases sperm into the female's bloodstream, initiating egg release.




This extreme sexual dimorphism ensures that when a female Ceratiidae spawns from her mother, she has a mate readily available.