Female investment is retarded pending reception of allosperm in a hermaphroditic colonial invertebrate

Young colonies of the bryozoan Celleporella hyalinaare capable of acquiring water-borne allosperm and of using it to fertilize ova for a period of 3–6 weeks after reaching female sexual maturity. In these simultaneous hermaphrodites, early allocation to female modules, but not male, is greatly enhanced by the acquisition of allosperm. The degree of enhancement is inversely proportional to coancestry of the recipient and donor colonies, thus promoting outcrossing. This apparently novel mechanism of adjusting operational sex ratio depends on the uptake and storage of sperm by nonreproductive (somatic) modules and subsequent translocation to females.