Oophagy (/oʊˈɒfədʒi/oh-OFF-ə-jee) orovophagy, literally "egg eating", is the practice ofembryos feeding on eggs produced by theovary while still inside the mother'suterus.[1] The word oophagy is formed from theclassical Greekᾠόν (ōion, "egg") and classical Greekφᾱγεῖν (phāgein, "to eat"). In contrast,adelphophagy is the cannibalism of a multi-celled embryo.[1]
Oophagy is thought to occur in allsharks in the orderLamniformes and has been recorded in thebigeye thresher (Alopias superciliosus), thepelagic thresher (A. pelagicus), theshortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) and theporbeagle (Lamna nasus) among others.[1] It also occurs in thetawny nurse shark (Nebrius ferrugineus), and in the familyPseudotriakidae.
This practice may lead to larger embryos or prepare the embryo for a predatory lifestyle.[2]
There are variations in the extent of oophagy among the different shark species. Thegrey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) practices intrauterine cannibalism, the first developed embryo consuming both additional eggs and any other developing embryos.Slender smooth-hounds (Gollum attenuatus), form egg capsules which contain 30-80 ova, within which only one ovum develops; the remaining ova are ingested and their yolks stored in its external yolk sac. The embryo then proceeds to develop normally, without ingesting further eggs.[1]
Oophagy is used as a synonym of theegg predation practised by some snakes and other animals.
Oophagy is used to describe the destruction of non-queen eggs in nests ofeusocial insects, especially thesocial wasps, bees, and ants. This is seen in the wasp speciesPolistes biglumis andPolistes humilis.[3] Oophagy has been observed in the antLeptothorax acervorum[4] and the waspParachartergus fraternus, where oophagy is practiced to increase energy circulation and provide more dietary protein.[5]The social waspPolistes fuscatus use oophagy as a method to establish adominance hierarchy; dominant females eat the eggs of subordinate females such that they no longer produce eggs, possibly due to the unnecessary expenditure of energy and resources.[6] This behavior has also been observed in some bee species. Such bee species includeXylocopa sulcatipes[7] andBombus ruderatus, where queen bees will eat larvae deposited by workers or eject them from the nest in order to maintain dominance over the colony.[8]
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