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Kim TW, Lee JH, Choe JC. Not all crabs are created equal: diverse evolutionary paths of female preferences for courtship structures in fiddler crabs (genus Uca). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-016-2235-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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Painting CJ, Splinter W, Callander S, Maricic T, Peso M, Backwell PRY. Ladies First: Coerced Mating in a Fiddler Crab. PLoS One 2016; 11:e0155707. [PMID: 27303816 PMCID: PMC4909207 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0155707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2016] [Accepted: 05/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
In some species males increase their reproductive success by forcing females to copulate with them, usually by grasping the female or pinning her to the ground to prevent her from escaping. Here we report an example of males coercing copulation by trapping a female in a confined space. During mate-searching, female Uca mjoebergi fiddler crabs visit males and choose whether or not to enter their burrow for inspection. Males typically enter the burrow first and we found that 71% of females will follow him down and 54% decide to stay and mate. However, some males use an alternative tactic where he will wait for the female to enter the burrow first, after which he traps her inside. Although a significantly lower percentage of females will enter a burrow following this behaviour (41%), upon entry 79% females that enter will become trapped and almost all of these females (90%) produce a clutch of eggs. Our observations suggest that males are able to gain fertilisations from females that may not have remained in the burrow by trapping them and coercing them to mate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christina J. Painting
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland, New Zealand
- * E-mail:
| | - William Splinter
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Sophia Callander
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Tim Maricic
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
| | - Marianne Peso
- Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, NSW, Australia
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Kerr KA, Christy JH, Joly-Lopez Z, Luque J, Collin R, Guichard F. Reproducing on time when temperature varies: shifts in the timing of courtship by fiddler crabs. PLoS One 2014; 9:e97593. [PMID: 24832079 PMCID: PMC4022618 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0097593] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2013] [Accepted: 04/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Many species reproduce when conditions are most favorable for the survival of young. Numerous intertidal fish and invertebrates release eggs or larvae during semilunar, large amplitude, nocturnal tides when these early life stages are best able to escape predation by fish that feed near the shore during the day. Remarkably, some species, including the fiddler crabs Uca terpsichores and Uca deichmanni, maintain this timing throughout the year as temperature, and thus the rate of embryonic development, vary. The mechanisms that allow such precision in the timing of the production of young are poorly known. A preliminary study suggested that when temperature decreases, U. terpsichores mate earlier in the tidal amplitude cycle such that larvae are released at the appropriate time. We tested this idea by studying the timing of courtship in U. terpsichores and U. deichmanni as temperature varied annually during two years, at 5 locations that differed in the temperature of the sediment where females incubate their eggs. Uca terpsichores courted earlier at locations where sediment temperature declined seasonally but not where sediment temperature remained elevated throughout the year. In contrast, clear shifts in courtship timing were not observed for U. deichmanni despite variation in sediment temperature. We discuss other mechanisms by which this species may maintain reproductive timing. These two species are likely to be affected differently by changes in the frequency and intensity of cold periods that are expected to accompany climate change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kecia A. Kerr
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama, Panama
- McGill-STRI Neotropical Environment Option (NEO), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- * E-mail:
| | - John H. Christy
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama, Panama
| | - Zoé Joly-Lopez
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Javier Luque
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama, Panama
- University of Alberta, Department of Biological Sciences, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
| | - Rachel Collin
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Ancon, Panama, Panama
- McGill-STRI Neotropical Environment Option (NEO), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
| | - Frédéric Guichard
- Department of Biology, McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
- McGill-STRI Neotropical Environment Option (NEO), McGill University, Montréal, Québec, Canada
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Lindquist ED, Hetherington TE. Semaphoring in an earless frog: the origin of a novel visual signal. Anim Cogn 2014; 1:83-7. [PMID: 24399272 DOI: 10.1007/s100710050012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/1998] [Revised: 07/25/1998] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Social communication in anuran amphibians (frogs and toads) is mediated predominantly by acoustic signals. Unlike most anurans, the Panamanian golden frog, Atelopus zeteki, lacks a standard tympanic middle ear and appears to have augmented its communicatory repertoire to include rotational limb motions as visual signals, referred to here as semaphores. The communicatory nature of semaphoring was inferred from experimental manipulations using mirrored self-image presentations and nonresident introductions. Male frogs semaphored significantly more when presented with a mirrored self-image than with a nonreflective control. Novel encounters between resident males and nonresident frogs demonstrated that semaphores were used directionally and were displayed toward target individuals. Females semaphored frequently and this observation represents a rare case of signaling by females in a typically male-biased communicatory regime. Semaphore actions were clearly linked to a locomotory gait pattern and appear to have originated as an elaboration of a standard stepping motion.
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Affiliation(s)
- E D Lindquist
- Department of Zoology, The Ohio State University, 1735 Neil Avenue, 43210-1293, Columbus, OH, USA
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Gwynne DT, Dadour IR. A new mechanism of sound production by courting male jumping spiders (Araneae: Salticidae, Saitis michaelseni Simon). J Zool (1987) 2009. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1985.tb04913.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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How MJ, Hemmi JM. Courtship herding in the fiddler crab Uca elegans. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2008; 194:1053-61. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-008-0376-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2008] [Revised: 09/09/2008] [Accepted: 09/19/2008] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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Clayton D. Singing and dancing in the ghost crabOcypode platytarsus(Crustacea, Decapoda, Ocypodidae). J NAT HIST 2008. [DOI: 10.1080/00222930701840530] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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NOBBS MADELEINE, McGUINNESS KEITHA. Developing methods for quantifying the apparent abundance of fiddler crabs (Ocypodidae:Uca) in mangrove habitats. AUSTRAL ECOL 1999. [DOI: 10.1046/j.1442-9993.1999.00945.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Kosuge T, Murai M, Poovachiranon S. Breeding cycle and mating behaviour of the tropical ocypodidIlyoplax gangetica(Kemp 1919) (Crustacea Brachyura). TROPICAL ZOOLOGY 1994. [DOI: 10.1080/03946975.1994.10539238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/28/2022]
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Abstract
In Fisher's model of sexual selection female mating preferences are not subject to direct selection but evolve purely because they are genetically correlated with the favoured male trait. But when female choice is costly relative to random mating, for example in energy, time or predation risks, the evolution of female mating preference is subject also to direct selection. With costly female choice the set or line of equilibria found in models of Fisher's process no longer exists. On the line the male trait is under zero net selection, and there is no advantage for a female choosing a male with a more exaggerated character. Therefore any cost to choice causes choosiness to decline. In turn this lowers the strength of sexual selection and the male trait declines as well. So when Fisher's process is the sole force of sexual selection and female choice is costly, only transitory increases in female choice and the preferred male trait are possible. It has often been claimed that exaggerated male characters act as markers or revealers of the genetic quality of potential mates. If females choose their mates using traits that correlate with heritable viability differences then stable exaggeration of both female choice and the preferred male character is possible, even when female choice is costly. The offspring of choosy females have not only a Fisherian reproductive advantage but also greater viability. This suggests that in species with exaggerated male ornamentation, in which female choice is costly, it is likely that female mate choice will be for traits that correlate with male genetic quality.
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