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A Shot in the Arm (or the Eye)
The giant squid has a long terminal organ i.e. penis. In a mature male, it can be almost the length of its mantle, sometimes over a meter long! Not much is known about squid mating, but it is assumed that this long organ from which he can project freely for a considerable portion of the organ's length, is used to directly implant spermatophores hydraulically into the female's arm.
Some male giant squid who do not have the opportunity to mate with a female, sometimes have some spermatophores embedded around their eyes and in their own arms. It has been suggested that the squid may self-inseminate as a result of trauma induced by capture, but under normal conditions, he may do it accidemtally or he may inadvertently be injected by another male while trying inseminate the same female or by being mistaken for a female.
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