While unfortunate for the males, becoming a post-sex meal offers the females vital nutrients needed to sustain themselves and their soon-to-be hundreds of gestating offspring. This practice is especially common in animals exhibiting female sexual dimorphism,

Male octopuses paralyse partners with venom during sex to avoid being eaten, scientists find - Octopus uses symbiotic bacteria to sequester the venom

Some male octopuses tend to get eaten by their sexual partners, but male blue-lined octopuses avoid this fate with help from one of nature’s most potent venoms