ABSTRACT
Behaviors of Males Bile-see 'courtship bite', similar to the 'grasp' (Carrier eta/. 1994). Block-a single male positions his body in front of the heads of the mating pair of sharks and thus presumably aids the 'pectoral grasp' and copulation by keeping the pair from moving forward (Carrier et a/. 1994). Bob and sway - male rays swim in a sinuous path and 'bob' vertically or 'sway' horizontally in pursuit of a female (Tricas 1980). Carry - after a successful 'pectoral grasp' in shallow water ( < 0.5 m) the male will attempt to carry the 'accepting' female to water deep enough to permit copulation (Pratt and Carrier 2001). Clasper flexion - the erection of claspers. It may be the movement of individual claspers dorsally before a possible insertion attempt by a male bat ray (Tricas 1980) or backward and forward by a 'patrolling' C. taurus (Gordon 1993). Myrberg and Gruber (1974) noted that 5phyrna tiburo could pivot its claspers separately, alternately, and sometimes rapidly while swimming alone. They also noted 'clasper flexion with thrust'; a side roll with clasper extension and body arching in 5. tiburo. See 'splaying'. Competition - in a pre-copulatory reproductive context, a scramble or contest to see which male will achieve the grasp, positioning and alignment to allow copulation.
