Sexual Reproduction
At the base of the right anterior tentacle is the aperture from which the penis can protrude. The genital aperture lies at the anterior end of the mantle cavity, a seminal grove arises from it and runs forward to the penis, at the base of the anterior tentacle.
During mating, one animal attaches itself to the substrate (female) the other crawls over the visceral hump, so that the penile aperture is in level with the common genital aperture of the first animal. The male than grasps the mantle of the female with the anterior part of its foot while the posterior part embraces the tail of the female. Meanwhile the female holds the body of the male by opening its parapodia.
Coupling lasts for hours or sometimes for days, although the actual passage of the sperm may take only a few minutes. Egg laying normally has to be triggered by copulation, but it occurs spontaneously in individuals kept in isolation for up to 3-4 months (typically these eggs are unfertilized). Copulation occurs most frequently in the early morning, and only rarely after 12:30 pm. An individual animal weighing 2,600g was recorded to have laid about 500 million eggs at 27 separate times during less than five months.
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