 Males reach sexual maturity at a length of , and females at a length of .A study of brown lanternsharks in Suruga Bay by Yano and Tanaka (1989) found a 23% prevalence of hermaphroditism within the population.Of the 16 hermaphrodites examined, 15 were functional females (and some were pregnant) that also possessed well-developed claspers (male intromittent organs), while one was a functional male with ovarian tissue in the left testis.