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Lin T, Liu X, Li S, Zhang D, Shen F, Jiang K. Females increase reproductive investment when mated to less sexually attractive males in a serially monogamous fish. Sci Rep 2024; 14:19020. [PMID: 39152306 PMCID: PMC11329643 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-70007-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 08/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Reproductive investment decision is an integral part of life-history theory. Differential allocation hypothesis predicts that females should increase investment when mated to high-quality males, conversely, reproductive compensation hypothesis predicts that females should increase investment when mated to low-quality males. Empirical research dominantly focuses on polygamous species and rarely on serially monogamous species. So, the question remains: which hypothesis does serially monogamous species fit? And if it fits reproductive compensation hypothesis, do females only compensate once or continuously for multiple times when mating to low-quality males? Here, we used a serially monogamous fish, the lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus), to investigate the reproductive investment pattern of females in relation to male quality (measured by sexual attractiveness). We found that females allocated more resources into eggs when they mated to less-sexually-attractive males, indicating the investment pattern of lined seahorse falls in with the prediction of reproductive compensation hypothesis. This finding may imply that the sex role of seahorses is reversed, and female is the side imposed on a greater sexual selection pressure. On this basis, we compared the investment difference of females in two consecutive breeding events when mated to less-sexually-attractive males. We found that females allocated less resources into eggs in the second breeding than in the first one. Females reduced their reproductive compensation in the second breeding, which may be attributed to the improvement in the quality (e.g., paternal care ability) of their mates after the first breeding, thus eliminating the need for them to invest more in the second breeding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Lin
- Key Laboratory of Inland Saline-Alkaline Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Xin Liu
- Key Laboratory of Inland Saline-Alkaline Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Siping Li
- Key Laboratory of Inland Saline-Alkaline Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Dong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Inland Saline-Alkaline Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China.
| | - Fengyuan Shen
- Key Laboratory of Inland Saline-Alkaline Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China
| | - Keji Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Inland Saline-Alkaline Aquaculture, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Shanghai, 200090, China
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Järvenpää M, Diaz Pauli B, Lindström K. Water turbidity constrains male mating success in a marine fish. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2752-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Human-induced eutrophication, resulting in increased algal growth and water turbidity, is an alarming problem in aquatic systems. Many studies have focused on the effects of algal turbidity on mate choice and sexual selection in fish, but little emphasis has been given to the ways it can constrain mating success. Here we experimentally investigated the effects of algal turbidity on maximum male mating success and parental care in the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus, a fish with a resource-defence mating system and male parental care. For this purpose, we introduced to 1 nest-holding male 5 random-sized ripe females in either clear or in turbid water. After spawning, we observed how many mates and eggs the male received and followed his parental behaviour and egg survival for 6 days under turbid or clear water conditions. When spawning took place in clear water, the number of eggs the male received into his nest increased with the total weight of five females in his tank. However, when spawning took place in turbid water, there was no relationship between female size and the number of eggs laid, although the number of females that spawned was the same as in clear water. The results indicate that females adjust the number of eggs they lay according to water turbidity. This could explain previous findings that mating success is more evenly distributed among males in turbid than clear water conditions.
Significance statement
The first responses of animals to human-induced changes in the environment are behavioural. Subtle changes in the behaviour of individuals can have profound consequences for populations and communities. Human-induced eutrophication, leading to algal blooms and water turbidity, is a major environmental problem in aquatic systems worldwide. Our results on the sand goby suggest a new mechanism by which water turbidity may affect fish mating systems and weaken sexual selection. When spawning takes place in clear water, the number of eggs accumulated in a males’ nest is an increasing function of the fecundity of the females. However, when spawning in turbid water, this positive relationship between female size and egg numbers disappears. We believe this is because females do not perceive the competition from other females in turbid water and therefore invest less in present reproduction.
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Moy KG, Unmack PJ, Lintermans M, Duncan RP, Brown C. Barriers to hybridisation and their conservation implications for a highly threatened Australian fish species. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Karl G. Moy
- Institute for Applied Ecology; University of Canberra; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Peter J. Unmack
- Institute for Applied Ecology; University of Canberra; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Mark Lintermans
- Institute for Applied Ecology; University of Canberra; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Richard P. Duncan
- Institute for Applied Ecology; University of Canberra; Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
| | - Culum Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences; Macquarie University; Sydney New South Wales Australia
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Robart AR, Sinervo B. Females increase parental care, but not fecundity, when mated to high-quality males in a biparental fish. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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Kelley JL, Rodgers GM, Morrell LJ. Conflict between background matching and social signalling in a colour-changing freshwater fish. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160040. [PMID: 27429764 PMCID: PMC4929899 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2016] [Accepted: 05/03/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability to change coloration allows animals to modify their patterning to suit a specific function. Many freshwater fishes, for example, can appear cryptic by altering the dispersion of melanin pigment in the skin to match the visual background. However, melanin-based pigments are also used to signal dominance among competing males; thus colour change for background matching may conflict with colour change for social status signalling. We used a colour-changing freshwater fish to investigate whether colour change for background matching influenced aggressive interactions between rival males. Subordinate males that had recently darkened their skin for background matching received heightened aggression from dominant males, relative to males whose coloration had not changed. We then determined whether the social status of a rival male, the focal male's previous social status, and his previous skin coloration, affected a male's ability to change colour for background matching. Social status influenced skin darkening in the first social encounter, with dominant males darkening more than subordinate males, but there was no effect of social status on colour change in the second social encounter. We also found that the extent of skin colour change (by both dominant and subordinate males) was dependent on previous skin coloration, with dark males displaying a smaller change in coloration than pale males. Our findings suggest that skin darkening for background matching imposes a significant social cost on subordinate males in terms of increased aggression. We also suggest that the use of melanin-based signals during social encounters can impede subsequent changes in skin coloration for other functions, such as skin darkening for background matching.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L. Kelley
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology and Neuroecology Group, School of Animal Biology (M092), The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Gwendolen M. Rodgers
- Genetics, Ecology and Evolution Group, Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Miall Building, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
| | - Lesley J. Morrell
- School of Biological, Biomedical and Environmental Sciences, University of Hull, Kingston upon Hull HU6 7RX, UK
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Morgado-Santos M, Carona S, Magalhães MF, Vicente L, Collares-Pereira MJ. Reproductive dynamics shapes genomotype composition in an allopolyploid complex. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 283:20153009. [PMID: 27226473 PMCID: PMC4892787 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.3009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2015] [Accepted: 04/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Hybrid complexes are composed of organisms with multiple combinations of parental genomes (genomotypes) that interconnect through nets of crosses. Although several such complexes are well established without speciation or extinction, mechanisms shaping their dynamics remain poorly understood. In this study, we quantified the reproductive success of the allopolyploid Iberian fish Squalius alburnoides in experimental free-access and directional crosses involving the most common genomotypes. Specifically, we analysed the paternity of the offspring produced when females had free access to male genomotypes and quantified variations in egg allocation, fertilization rate, and offspring survival among crosses involving each male genomotype. The composition of the offspring produced from free-access crosses varied significantly from that expected from random mating, suggesting that offspring production and viability are not independent of parental male genomotype. Moreover, directional crosses producing the genomotype most commonly found in wild populations appeared to be the most successful, with females laying more eggs, and fertilization rate and offspring survival being the highest. These results suggest that reproductive dynamics plays a relevant role in structuring the genomotype composition of populations and opens a path to future research on the ecology and evolutionary biology of allopolyploids and their multiplicity of possible evolutionary pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Morgado-Santos
- Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - S Carona
- Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M F Magalhães
- Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - L Vicente
- Centro de Filosofia das Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa (CFCUL), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M J Collares-Pereira
- Centro de Ecologia, Evolução e Alterações Ambientais (cE3c), Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal
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Baker JA, Wund MA, Heins DC, King RW, Reyes ML, Foster SA. Life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback. Heredity (Edinb) 2015; 115:322-34. [PMID: 26286665 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2015.65] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2014] [Revised: 04/20/2015] [Accepted: 04/22/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The postglacial adaptive radiation of the threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) has been widely used to investigate the roles of both adaptive evolution and plasticity in behavioral and morphological divergence from the ancestral condition represented by present-day oceanic stickleback. These phenotypes tend to exhibit high levels of ecotypic differentiation. Population divergence in life history has also been well studied, but in contrast to behavior and morphology, the extent and importance of plasticity has been much less well studied. In this review, we summarize what is known about life-history plasticity in female threespine stickleback, considering four traits intimately associated with reproductive output: age/size at maturation, level of reproductive effort, egg size and clutch size. We envision life-history plasticity in an iterative, ontogenetic framework, in which females may express plasticity repeatedly across each of several time frames. We contrast the results of laboratory and field studies because, for most traits, these approaches give somewhat different answers. We provide ideas on what the cues might be for observed plasticity in each trait and, when possible, we inquire about the relative costs and benefits to expressed plasticity. We end with an example of how we think plasticity may play out in stickleback life history given what we know of plasticity in the ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A Baker
- Department of Biology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - M A Wund
- Department of Biology, The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, USA
| | - D C Heins
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA
| | - R W King
- Department of Biology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - M L Reyes
- Department of Biology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - S A Foster
- Department of Biology, Clark University, Worcester, MA, USA
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Hemiclonal analysis of interacting phenotypes in male and female Drosophila melanogaster. BMC Evol Biol 2014; 14:95. [PMID: 24884361 PMCID: PMC4101844 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2148-14-95] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2013] [Accepted: 03/31/2014] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Identifying the sources of variation in mating interactions between males and females is important because this variation influences the strength and/or the direction of sexual selection that populations experience. While the origins and effects of variation in male attractiveness and ornamentation have received much scrutiny, the causes and consequences of intraspecific variation in females have been relatively overlooked. We used cytogenetic cloning techniques developed for Drosophila melanogaster to create “hemiclonal” males and females with whom we directly observed sexual interaction between individuals of different known genetic backgrounds and measured subsequent reproductive outcomes. Using this approach, we were able to quantify the genetic contribution of each mate to the observed phenotypic variation in biologically important traits including mating speed, copulation duration, and subsequent offspring production, as well as measure the magnitude and direction of intersexual genetic correlation between female choosiness and male attractiveness. Results We found significant additive genetic variation contributing to mating speed that can be attributed to male genetic identity, female genetic identity, but not their interaction. Furthermore we found that phenotypic variation in copulation duration had a significant male-associated genetic component. Female genetic identity and the interaction between male and female genetic identity accounted for a substantial amount of the observed phenotypic variation in egg size. Although previous research predicts a trade-off between egg size and fecundity, this was not evident in our results. We found a strong negative genetic correlation between female choosiness and male attractiveness, a result that suggests a potentially important role for sexually antagonistic alleles in sexual selection processes in our population. Conclusion These results further our understanding of sexual selection because they identify that genetic identity plays a significant role in phenotypic variation in female behaviour and fecundity. This variation may be potentially due to ongoing sexual conflict found between the sexes for interacting phenotypes. Our unexpected observation of a negative correlation between female choosiness and male attractiveness highlights the need for more explicit theoretical models of genetic covariance to investigate the coevolution of female choosiness and male attractiveness.
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Kindsvater HK, Alonzo SH. Females allocate differentially to offspring size and number in response to male effects on female and offspring fitness. Proc Biol Sci 2014; 281:20131981. [PMID: 24478292 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2013.1981] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Female investment in offspring size and number has been observed to vary with the phenotype of their mate across diverse taxa. Recent theory motivated by these intriguing empirical patterns predicted both positive (differential allocation) and negative (reproductive compensation) effects of mating with a preferred male on female investment. These predictions, however, focused on total reproductive effort and did not distinguish between a response in offspring size and clutch size. Here, we model how specific paternal effects on fitness affect maternal allocation to offspring size and number. The specific mechanism by which males affect the fitness of females or their offspring determines whether and how females allocated differentially. Offspring size is predicted to increase when males benefit offspring survival, but decrease when males increase offspring growth rate. Clutch size is predicted to increase when males contribute to female resources (e.g. with a nuptial gift) and when males increase offspring growth rate. The predicted direction and magnitude of female responses vary with female age, but only when per-offspring paternal benefits decline with clutch size. We conclude that considering specific paternal effects on fitness in the context of maternal life-history trade-offs can help explain mixed empirical patterns of differential allocation and reproductive compensation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holly K Kindsvater
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Yale University, , PO Box 208106, New Haven, CT 06520, USA, Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, , Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada , V5A 1S6
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10
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Kindsvater HK, Simpson SE, Rosenthal GG, Alonzo SH. Male diet, female experience, and female size influence maternal investment in swordtails. Behav Ecol 2012. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ars213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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11
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Differential allocation by female zebrafish (Danio rerio) to different-sized males--an example in a fish species lacking parental care. PLoS One 2012; 7:e48317. [PMID: 23110229 PMCID: PMC3482219 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0048317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2012] [Accepted: 09/24/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Organisms allocate resources to reproduction in response to the costs and benefits of current and future reproductive opportunities. According to the differential allocation hypothesis, females allocate more resources to high-quality males. We tested whether a fish species lacking parental care (zebrafish, Danio rerio) expresses male size-dependent differential allocation in monogamous spawning trials. In addition, we tested whether reproductive allocation by females is affected by previous experience of different-quality males, potentially indicating plasticity in mate choice. To that end, females were conditioned to large, small or random-sized males (controls) for 14 days to manipulate females' expectations of the future mate quality. Females showed a clear preference for large males in terms of spawning probability and clutch size independent of the conditioning treatment. However, when females experienced variation in male size (random-sized conditioning treatment) they discriminated less against small males compared to females conditioned to large and small males. This might suggest that differential allocation and size-dependent sexual selection is of less relevance in nature than revealed in the present laboratory study.
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Slatyer RA, Mautz BS, Backwell PRY, Jennions MD. Estimating genetic benefits of polyandry from experimental studies: a meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2011; 87:1-33. [PMID: 21545390 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-185x.2011.00182.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 175] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rachel A Slatyer
- Evolution, Ecology & Genetics, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
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14
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Maternal and paternal contributions to egg size and egg number variation in the blackfin pearl killifish Austrolebias nigripinnis. Evol Ecol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-011-9469-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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Pischedda A, Stewart AD, Little MK, Rice WR. Male genotype influences female reproductive investment in Drosophila melanogaster. Proc Biol Sci 2010; 278:2165-72. [PMID: 21159677 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2010.2272] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In many species, males can influence the amount of resources their mates invest in reproduction. Two favoured hypotheses for this observation are that females assess male quality during courtship or copulation and alter their investment in offspring accordingly, or that males manipulate females to invest heavily in offspring produced soon after mating. Here, we examined whether there is genetic variation for males to influence female short-term reproductive investment in Drosophila melanogaster, a species with strong sexual selection and substantial sexual conflict. We measured the fecundity and egg size of females mated to males from multiple isofemale lines collected from populations around the globe. Although these traits were not strongly influenced by the male's population of origin, we found that 22 per cent of the variation in female short-term reproductive investment was attributable to the genotype of her mate. This is the first direct evidence that male D. melanogaster vary genetically in their proximate influence on female fecundity, egg size and overall reproductive investment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Pischedda
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106-9620, USA.
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