In 2012, when the individual was 8.5 m in total length (TL), the
claspers began to elongate, and the distal ends of the
claspers changed into cauliflower-shaped forms.
David
Clasper, whose great great grandfather Richard was Harry's brother and the coxswain in the championship-winning boat, wrote a book called Rowing: A Way of Life, which told of the
Claspers of Tyneside and was published in 2003 by Gateshead Council.
Old Uncle Ned was roped in and in the summer of 1845 the
Claspers headed back to the Thames with yet another new boat, the Lord Ravensworth.
Claspers long, subelliptic, with inner border strongly sclerotized, with setae as illustrated (Fig.
Males can be distinguished by the pair of
claspers at end of abdomen, used to hold the female during copulation.
Claspers of two mature male paratypes covered with dermal denticles on ventral side except for tips, exposing naked spur for length of 4.6 mm (Fig.
"Our finds show that these extinct armored fishes, the placoderms, had intimate copulation with males inserting
claspers (a structure that is part of the pelvic fin) inside the female to deposit sperm," Long said.
Now the family face forking out thousands to get it finished and a row has broken out between the
Claspers and builder Frank Cooper who started work on the extension.
He compares the
Claspers' achievements with two other rowing families, the Matfins and the Taylors.
Long said that the
claspers were used by the ancient fish, an extinct class of armoured fish called placoderms, to grip inside the female while they were mating.
The
Claspers of Tyneside, telling of these forgotten sporting heroes.