IT’S not just women who can fake orgasms. Female brown trout do it too, to

dupe potential partners into premature ejaculation. The trick may help females

avoid mating with undesirable males or attract more partners, biologists

suggest.

As courting pairs of brown trout prepare to spawn, both fish quiver violently

with their mouths open. Usually eggs and sperm are then released simultaneously,

to maximise the chances of fertilisation.

Sometimes, though, the female quivers without releasing her eggs. To

investigate this behaviour, Erik Petersson and Torbjörn Järvi of

Sweden’s National Board of Fisheries watched trout in an aquarium, and found …