Note that by defining gender as how an organism presents and carries out a sexual role, we can also define masculine and feminine in ways unique to each species. “Masculine” and “feminine” refer to the distinguishing traits possessed by most males and females respectively. Cross-gender appearance and behavior are also possible. For example, if most females have vertical stripes on their bodies and males do not, then a male with vertical stripes is a “feminine male.” If most males have antlers and females do not, then a doe with antlers is a “masculine female.”
Politically, locating the definition of male and female with gamete size keeps society’s gender categories at arm’s length from biology’s sex binary. We don’t have to deny the universality of the biological male/female distinction in order to challenge whether the gender of whole organisms also sorts into a male/female binary. In humans specifically, a gender binary for whole people is not clear-cut even though the difference between human sperm and egg is obvious—a size ratio of about one million to one.
*A gamete is a cell containing half of its parent’s genes. Fusing two gametes, each with half the needed number of genes, produces a new individual. A gamete is made through a special kind of cell division called meiosis, whereas other cells are made through the regular kind of cell division, called mitosis. When two gametes fuse, the resulting cell is called a zygote. A fertilized egg is a zygote.
3
Sex within Bodies
Although the binary in gamete size is practically universal, the way male and female functions are packaged into individual bodies does not fit into any consistent polarity. We tend to think that males and females must be in separate bodies because most of us are, as are most of the animals we live with, such as our pets, domesticated stock, and the birds and bees around our parks. However, many species have other ways of organizing sexual functions.
An individual body who makes both small and large gametes at some point in life is called a hermaphrodite. An individual who makes both sizes at the same time is a simultaneous hermaphrodite, and one who makes them at different times is a sequential hermaphrodite. Most flowering plants are simultaneous hermaphrodites because they make pollen and seeds at the same time. Pollen is the male part of a plant and the ovule is the female part. A pollinated ovule turns into a tiny embryo that detaches, to be blown away by the wind or carried away by an animal.
Among animals, hermaphrodism is common in the ocean.1 Most marine invertebrates, such as barnacles, snails, starfish, fan worms, and sea anemones, are hermaphroditic. Many fish are too. If you go snorkeling at a coral reef in Hawaii, the Caribbean, Australia, or the Red Sea, chances are that about a quarter of the fish you see will be hermaphroditic. Or take a look at some of the colorful fish popular in tropical aquaria—they are often sequential hermaphrodites. Most species of wrasses, parrot fish, and larger groupers are hermaphroditic, as are some damselfish, angelfish, gobies, porgies, emperors, soapfishes, dottybacks, and moray eels (all from shallow waters), and many deep-sea fish as well.2
Hermaphrodism is a successful way of life for many species; my guess is that hermaphrodism is more common in the world than species who maintain separate sexes in separate bodies (called gonochorism). The separate-sex/separate-body state is often viewed as “normal,” suggesting that something unusual favors hermaphrodism in plants, on coral reefs, and in the deep sea. Alternatively, hermaphrodism may be viewed as the original norm, prompting us to ask what there is in mobile organisms in the terrestrial environment that favors separate sexes in separate bodies.
WHAT FISH CAN TELL US
FEMALES CHANGING TO MALE
Sex change is only one of several interesting aspects of coral reef fish society. The bluehead wrasse is named for the blue head of the largest males. When small and just entering sexual maturity, fish of both sexes look similar. Later three genders develop. One gender consists of individuals who begin life as a male and remain so for life. Another gender consists of individuals who begin as females and later change into males. These sex-changed males are larger than those who have been male from the beginning. The third gender consists of females who remain female. We’ll call the two male genders the “small unchanged males” and the “large sex-changed males,” respectively. The large sex-changed males are the biggest individuals of the three genders, and they attempt to control the females. In some species, the large sex-changed males maintain and defend the females, and in others they defend locations that females appear to prefer.
Fertilization is external—a female releases eggs into the water and a male then releases a cloud of sperm around the eggs to fertilize them. The unfertilized eggs are out in the open and can potentially be fertilized by any male in the vicinity.
The small unchanged and large sex-changed males are hostile to each other. The large sex-changed males chase the small unchanged males away from the territory or from females they control. The small unchanged males are more numerous than the large sex-changed males and may form coalitions to mate with females that a large sex-changed male is trying to control. The small unchanged males mate by darting in and fertilizing the eggs that a large sex-changed male was intending to fertilize. Some small unchanged males keep the large sex-changed male busy while others are mating.
Different ecological circumstances favor unchanged and sex-changed males. The wrasses live both on coral reefs and in the seagrass beds nearby. In seagrass, females nestled among grass blades can’t be guarded very well, and the balance of hostilities tips in favor of the small unchanged males. This situation leads to only two genders, unchanged males and females. On the coral reef, clear water and an open habitat structure permit the large sex-changed males to control the females, and the balance tips in their favor.3 This situation encourages the presence of all three genders. Simple population density also shifts the gender ratios. At high densities females are difficult to guard and small unchanged males predominate, whereas at low densities a large sex-changed male can control a “harem.”4 Whether females prefer either type of male isn’t known.
The sex changes are triggered by changes in social organization. Another type of wrasse is the cleaner wrasse, named for its occupation of gleaning ectoparasites from other fish. When a large sex-changed male is removed from his harem, the largest female changes sex and takes over. Within a few hours, she adopts male behavior, including courtship and spawning with the remaining females. Within ten days, this new male is producing active sperm. Meanwhile the other females in the harem remain unchanged.5 I haven’t been able to find out whether any female can turn into a male if she is the biggest female when the existing male dies, or whether females divide into two groups—those who remain female no matter what and those who change sex when circumstances are right.
Does this animal society seem oh-so-bizarre? It isn’t. Aspects of this system appear again and again among vertebrates, especially the themes of male control of females or their eggs, multiple male genders, hostility among some of the male genders, flexible sexual identity, and social organization that changes with ecological context. Still, if you think the coral reef fish scene is bizarre, you’re not alone—so did the biologists who first witnessed it. We’re only just realizing that the concepts of gender and sexuality we grew up with are seriously flawed.
MALES CHANGING TO FEMALE
Sex changes from male to female also occur. A group of damselfish are called clown fish because their bold white strips remind one of the white makeup used by clowns. These fish live among the tentacles of sea anemones, which have cells in their tentacles that sting any animal who touches them. To survive in this lethal home, a clown fish secretes a mucus that inhibits the anemone from discharging its stinging cells. Although living within the anemone’s tentacles provides safety for the clown fish, the size of its house is limited by how big its sea anemone grows. An anemone has space for only one pair of adult clown fish and a few juveniles.
The female is larger than the male. If she is removed, the remaining male turns into a female, and one of the juveniles matures into a male.6 The pair is monogamous. Female egg production increases with body size. A monogamous male finds no