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Felmy A, Weissert N, Travis J, Jokela J. Mate availability determines use of alternative reproductive phenotypes in hermaphrodites. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
In many species, individuals can employ alternative reproductive phenotypes, with profound consequences for individual fitness and population dynamics. This is particularly relevant for self-compatible hermaphrodites, which have exceptionally many reproductive options. Here we investigated the occurrence of reproductive phenotypes in the simultaneously hermaphroditic freshwater snail Radix balthica under experimentally simulated conditions of low versus moderate population density. We captured all mating behavior on camera and measured individual female lifetime reproductive success. We found every possible reproductive phenotype: (1) both male and female (i.e., truly hermaphroditic) reproduction, (2) purely female and (3) purely male reproduction, (4) male reproduction combined with self-fertilization and (5) female mating activity, (6) pure self-fertilization without mating and (7–8) two types of reproductive failure. Variation in alternative reproductive phenotypes was explained by mate availability (10.8%) and individual condition, approximated by a snail’s mean daily growth rate (17.5%). Increased mate availability resulted in a lower diversity of reproductive phenotypes, in particular increasing the frequency of true hermaphrodites. However, it lowered phenotype-specific fecundities and hence reduced the population growth rate. Snails in better condition were more likely to reproduce as true hermaphrodites or pure females, whereas low-condition snails tended to suffer reproductive failure. Overall, we show substantial variation in alternative reproductive phenotypes in a hermaphrodite, which is possibly in part maintained by fluctuations in population density and thus mate availability, and by variation in individual condition. We also provide evidence of an almost 2-fold increase in clutch size that can be ascribed specifically to mating as a female.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anja Felmy
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 133, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- ETH Zurich, D-USYS, Institute of Integrative Biology, Universitätstrasse 16, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Nora Weissert
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 133, Dübendorf, Switzerland
| | - Joseph Travis
- Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL, USA
| | - Jukka Jokela
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, EAWAG, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, Überlandstrasse 133, Dübendorf, Switzerland
- ETH Zurich, D-USYS, Institute of Integrative Biology, Universitätstrasse 16, Zurich, Switzerland
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Lefebvre F, Richard FJ, Moreau J, Rigaud T, Caubet Y. Mass drives mating success in Armadillidium vulgare (Crustacea, Oniscidea). Behav Processes 2019; 168:103944. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2019.103944] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/10/2019] [Revised: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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Nakadera Y, Swart EM, Maas JPA, Montagne-Wajer K, Ter Maat A, Koene JM. Effects of age, size, and mating history on sex role decision of a simultaneous hermaphrodite. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2014; 26:232-241. [PMID: 25713474 PMCID: PMC4309981 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2014] [Revised: 09/12/2014] [Accepted: 09/16/2014] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Quite a few animals are male and female at the same time, so they can choose to mate either as male or female on copulation. The decision to perform either sex role was known to be highly flexible depending on various, but often confounding, factors. For the pond snail, we report that young and small snails tend to mate as males first, though old and large snails do not seem to be better females. Contrasting with separate-sexed animals, simultaneous hermaphrodites display unique reproductive strategies as they are male and female at the same time. Simultaneous hermaphrodites that copulate unilaterally, for instance, make a decision to mate as a male or female. Previous studies have demonstrated that sex role preference in hermaphrodites is flexible and is controlled by several, often confounding, factors. We examined the relationship between sex role decisions and 3 life-history traits (age, size, and mating history) in the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. Based on our field observations, which indicate that adult individuals show overlapping generations and large variation in body size during the breeding season, we performed a sex role choice experiment in the laboratory. We found that young and small snails mate as males first. Both age and size significantly affected sex role decision, with age having a stronger effect. Furthermore, we tested whether L. stagnalis becomes reluctant to inseminate a mate after being inseminated because it is known that after insemination, male investment substantially reduces. Contrary to expectations, our results indicate that the receipt of seminal fluid does not seem to reduce male motivation. In sum, sex role decisions in L. stagnalis are largely determined by age and size but not by having received seminal fluid. This mating pattern, however, does not fully support the size-advantage model because large or old individuals did not perform better as females in our experiment. These results imply a conflicting mating interest, rather than harmonious agreement, between age- and size-different hermaphrodites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yumi Nakadera
- Section Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam , The Netherlands
| | - Elferra M Swart
- Section Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam , The Netherlands
| | - Jeroen P A Maas
- Section Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam , The Netherlands , ; Applied Biology, HAS University of Applied Sciences , Onderwijsboulevard 221, 5223DE 's-Hertogenbosch , The Netherlands , and
| | - Kora Montagne-Wajer
- Section Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam , The Netherlands
| | - Andries Ter Maat
- Behavioural Neurobiology, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology , Eberhard-Gwinner-Strasse, 82319 Seewiesen , Germany
| | - Joris M Koene
- Section Animal Ecology, Department of Ecological Science, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, VU University Amsterdam , De Boelelaan 1085, 1081HV Amsterdam , The Netherlands
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Anthes N, Werminghausen J, Lange R. Large donors transfer more sperm, but depletion is faster in a promiscuous hermaphrodite. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2013. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-013-1662-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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Kimura K, Chiba S. Strategic ejaculation in simultaneously hermaphroditic land snails: more sperm into virgin mates. BMC Evol Biol 2013; 13:264. [PMID: 24304518 PMCID: PMC4235035 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-13-264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2013] [Accepted: 11/27/2013] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Background It has been theorised that sperm competition promotes the strategic usage of costly sperm. Although sperm competition is thought to be an important driving force of reproductive traits in simultaneous hermaphrodites as well as in species with separate sexes, empirical studies on strategic ejaculation in simultaneous hermaphrodites are scarce. Results In the present study, we tested whether the simultaneously hermaphroditic land snail Euhadra quaesita adjusts the number of sperm donated according to the condition of the mate and whether the pattern of strategic ejaculation is in line with previously suggested theories. We found that individuals donated much more sperm when they copulated with a virgin mate than when they copulated with a non-virgin. Conclusion The virgin-biased pattern of ejaculation matches the theoretical prediction and suggests that sperm competition significantly influence the reproductive traits of simultaneously hermaphroditic land snails.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuki Kimura
- Department of Environmental Life Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Kawauchi 41, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8576, Japan.
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