Waiting for the man to get his act together during sex can often be a source of frustration.
But it seems women are not the only members of the animal kingdom to swiftly lose interest in a fumbling male.
New footage reveals a hilarious mating encounter between male and female algae octopuses off the Indonesian island of Bunaken.
In the clip, the male starts getting dragged around the ocean floor mid-sex by the ‘impatient’ female when he can’t find his entrance.
The unfortunate cephalopod desperately holds on with one of his eight arms, known as the ‘hectocotylus’, which can emit sperm from the very tip.
In the clip, the male (left) gets dragged around the sea floor by the ‘impatient’ female (right) via the male’s mating arm, known as a hectocotylus
The astonishing clip is taken from an upcoming National Geographic documentary, ‘Secrets of the Octopus’.
‘It was surprising, and comical, to witness mating on the move,’ series producer Adam Geiger told Live Science.
‘The female [is] essentially dragging the male – hanging on for dear life – over the reef while she got on with other things.
‘The algae octopus were the only species in the series we witnessed mating this way, but who knows, others may do this, too.’
Initially the male, perched on a rock at the bottom of the sea, gets the female’s attention with an incredible show known as a ‘passing cloud display’.
His tens of thousands of skin cells change colour in flashes to send the female a message.
‘The passing cloud display means different things to different cephalopods,’ said Geiger.
‘With the algae octopus, the passing cloud display seems to be an expression of interest in mating – a general “I’m available” signal.’
The fascinating footage of the octopi encounter was captured off the island of Bunaken in Indonesia for National Geographic
Many male octopuses lack external genitalia and instead use a modified arm, called a hectocotylus, to pass their sperm to the female – including the algae octopus (Abdopus aculeatus, file photo)
After getting the female’s attention, the male then sticks out his ‘papilla’ – a finger-like fleshy projection over his eye – and makes himself as big as possible.
His ‘come-on’ does the trick and the female makes herself available, so he extends his specialised mating arm, the hectocotylus.
‘Its modified tip will deliver a packet of sperm – if he can just find the right spot,’ the video’s narrator says.
The male is aiming for the female’s ‘mantle cavity’, where the sperm is stored and her eggs are fertilised – but unfortunately he can’t seem to find it.
It’s not long before the female gets ‘impatient and hungry’ and starts to swim off, even though his mating arm is still wrapped around her.
‘He’s got this far, so if she wants to go hunting he’ll hang on,’ the narrator adds.
According to Jon Ablett, curator of the Natural History Museum’s cephalopod collection, the appearance of the hectocotylus varies between octopus species.
‘Some look like a syringe, others more like a spoon and one, belonging to the North Atlantic octopus, even looks like a little toast rack,’ he said.
The algae octopus (Abdopus aculeatus) is so-called because it looks like it’s been covered with algae when resting on the sea floor, which is actually a perfect camouflage.
Sir David Attenborough described it as the only octopus specially adapted to walk on land, as it can walk from one tidal pool to the next as it hunts for crab.
‘The octopus’s suckers enable it to move just as stealthily in water as out of it,’ the legendary British biologist said.
The new National Geographic documentary, ‘Secrets of the Octopus’, is available to stream on Disney+ and Hulu from April 22.
