A closer look
Male deep-sea anglerfish are drastically smaller than the terrifying, glowing-lured females, and exist solely as swimming sperm donors desperately searching for a mate. Once a male finally locates a female in the pitch-black abyss, he bites into her flesh and releases an enzyme that melts his own mouth and body directly into her bloodstream. Over time, the male loses his eyes, internal organs, and brain, completely fusing with the female until there is nothing left of him but a tiny, parasitic pair of testicles hanging off her side. A single female can carry up to six of these assimilated ex-boyfriends at once, utilizing their genetic material whenever she is ready to spawn. It is the absolute pinnacle of toxic codependency, making modern human dating look incredibly healthy by comparison, since getting ghosted is vastly preferable to being literally absorbed into someone else's circulatory system
