1
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Kaneko E, Sato H, Fukamachi S. Validation of the three-chamber strategy for studying mate choice in medaka. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0259741. [PMID: 34780539 PMCID: PMC8592428 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0259741] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [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: 05/11/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The three-chamber experiment, in which one test animal can choose between two animals placed in physically inaccessible compartments, is a widely adopted strategy for studying sexual preference in animals. Medaka, a small freshwater teleost, is an emerging model for dissecting the neurological/physiological mechanisms underlying mate choice for which intriguing findings have been accumulating. The three-chamber strategy has rarely been adopted in this species; therefore, here we investigated its validity using medaka colour variants that mate assortatively. First, a total of 551 movies, in which a test male and two choice females interacted for 30 min under a free-swimming condition, were manually analysed. The sexual preference of the males, calculated as a courtship ratio, was highly consistent between human observers (r > 0.96), supporting the objectivity of this manual-counting strategy. Second, we tested two types of three-chamber apparatuses, in which choice fish were presented in either a face-to-face or side-by-side location. Test fish (regardless of sex) spent most of the time associating with choice fish in the compartments. However, their sexual preference, calculated as an association ratio, was poorly reproduced when the locations of the choice fish were swapped. Third, the sexual preferences of males quantified using the manual-counting and either of the three-chamber strategies did not correlate (r = 0.147 or 0.297). Hence, we concluded that, even for individuals of a species like medaka, which spawn every day, sexual preference could not be reliably evaluated using the three-chamber strategy. Optimization of the protocol may solve this problem; however, the explanation for the observation that animals that are ready for spawning persist with never-accessible mating partners must be reconsidered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ena Kaneko
- Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Japan Women’s University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Hinako Sato
- Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Japan Women’s University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Shoji Fukamachi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Japan Women’s University, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- * E-mail:
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2
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Spikes M, Huebler S, Schlupp I. Male secondary sexual traits do not predict female preference in Caribbean livebearing fishes (
Limia
). Ethology 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Montrai Spikes
- Department of Biology University of Oklahoma Norman OK USA
| | - Sophia Huebler
- Department of Biology University of Oklahoma Norman OK USA
| | - Ingo Schlupp
- Department of Biology University of Oklahoma Norman OK USA
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3
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Spikes M, Schlupp I. Males can't afford to be choosy: Male reproductive investment does not influence preference for female size in Limia (Poeciliidae). Behav Processes 2021; 183:104315. [PMID: 33417929 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2021.104315] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/02/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Reproductive investment was initially thought to be the key selective force behind male mate preference for female characters, like size or ornamentation (i.e., the preference by males for certain females). Yet, evidence of polygynous species, where male reproductive investments are often inexpensive compared to those of females, have also been described to possess male preference. Our study aims to understand how reproductive investment influences the selection of choosy males in polygynous systems using two species of livebearing fishes varying in reproductive investment: Limia perugiae, in which males invest heavily into reproduction, and L. zonata in which males invest minimally into reproduction. We hypothesized that male reproductive investment when combined with fecundity selection will favour the evolution of male mate preference and thereby lead to males that invest heavily into reproduction being choosier than males that invest minimally. When male Limia were exposed to two females simultaneously, one from the small size class and one from the large size class, L. zonata chose large females over small ones, whereas L. perugiae allocated the same amount of time regardless of female size class. Although we fail to find support for our original hypotheses, our study highlights the need for a more thorough examination of non-model species like Limia. We suggest future studies analyse reproductive investment as it interacts with cryptic choice, multiple sensory cues as well as expand comparisons to multiple Limia species, especially those endemic to Cuba, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Montrai Spikes
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, United States.
| | - Ingo Schlupp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, United States.
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4
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Kniel N, Godin JJ. Does individual personality predict male mating preference for female body size in the Trinidadian guppy? Ethology 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.13077] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nina Kniel
- Department of Biology Carleton University Ottawa ON Canada
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5
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Tina FW, Muramatsu D. Size‐dependent mating preference of the male fiddler crab Austruca perplexa. Ethology 2019. [DOI: 10.1111/eth.12961] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Fahmida Wazed Tina
- Faculty of Science and Technology Nakhon Si Thammarat Rajabhat University Nakhon Si Thammarat Thailand
| | - Daisuke Muramatsu
- Center for Natural Environment Education Nara University of Education Nara Japan
- Wildlife Research Center of Kyoto University Kyoto Japan
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6
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Bertram MG, Martin JM, Saaristo M, Ecker TE, Michelangeli M, Deal NDS, Lim SL, O'Bryan MK, Wong BBM. Context-specific behavioural changes induced by exposure to an androgenic endocrine disruptor. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2019; 664:177-187. [PMID: 30743111 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Revised: 01/28/2019] [Accepted: 01/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Pharmaceutical contaminants are being detected with increased frequency in organisms and ecosystems worldwide. This represents a major environmental concern given that various pharmaceuticals act on drug targets that are evolutionarily conserved across diverse taxa, are often persistent in the environment, and can bioconcentrate in organisms and bioaccumulate in food chains. Despite this, relatively little is known about the potential for pharmaceutical contaminants to affect animal behaviour, especially across multiple fitness-related contexts. Here, we investigated impacts of 21-day exposure of wild-caught male eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) to a field-realistic level of the veterinary pharmaceutical 17β-trenbolone-a growth-promoting steroid used extensively in beef production worldwide and a potent androgenic endocrine disruptor repeatedly detected in surface waters affected by livestock effluent run-off. First, we examined male boldness, activity, and exploratory behaviour in a novel environment (maze arena) and found no significant effect of 17β-trenbolone exposure. Second, the same males were tested in a reproductive assay for their tendency to associate with a stimulus (unexposed) female behind a partition. Exposed males exhibited reduced association behaviour, taking longer to first associate with, and spending less time within close proximity to, a female. Third, all males were assayed for sperm function (computer-assisted sperm analysis, sperm viability) or quantity (total sperm count) and, although no significant main effects of 17β-trenbolone were seen on sperm traits, exposure altered the relationship between male morphology and sperm function. Lastly, morphological traits were assessed and exposed males were found to have, on average, increased mass relative to length. In combination, these results demonstrate that exposure to a field-realistic level of 17β-trenbolone can produce subtle but important trait alterations in male fish-including context-specific behavioural changes, disruption of key sperm function trade-offs, and altered morphology-with potential impacts on exposed wildlife.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael G Bertram
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia.
| | - Jake M Martin
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Minna Saaristo
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Department of Biosciences, Åbo Akademi University, Turku, Finland
| | - Tiarne E Ecker
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Marcus Michelangeli
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, USA
| | - Nicholas D S Deal
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Shu Ly Lim
- The Development and Stem Cells Program of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Moira K O'Bryan
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia; The Development and Stem Cells Program of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
| | - Bob B M Wong
- School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia
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7
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Méndez-Janovitz M, Gonzalez-Voyer A, Macías Garcia C. Sexually selected sexual selection: Can evolutionary retribution explain female ornamental colour? J Evol Biol 2019; 32:833-843. [PMID: 31070826 DOI: 10.1111/jeb.13485] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 05/05/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
By preferring mates with increasingly costly ornaments or courtship displays, females cause an escalation of male reproductive costs. Such increased costs should promote male selectivity based on fecundity-linked female attributes, leading to female ornamentation in species with traditional sex roles. Consequently, female ornamentation should evolve more frequently in taxa where male reproduction is costly than in comparable taxa where it is cheaper. We assessed the prevalence of female ornamental colouration in two clades of viviparous cyprinodontid fish: the Goodeinae, where stringent female choice imposes male mating costs, and the Poeciliinae, whose males can circumvent female mate choice. We found that although in the Poeciliinae female ornamental colour is a correlated, but paler version of male coloration, females of the Goodeinae often display vivid ornamental colours that are distinct from those of males. Thus, male and female ornaments are not (phylo)genetically correlated in the Goodeinae. Furthermore, phylogenetic signal on male and female colour is clearly detectable in the Poeciliinae, but absent in the Goodeinae, suggesting that ornamental colour of males and females in the latter may be the consequence of selection. Given that enforceable female choice has promoted male ornaments, we propose that evolutionary retribution has promoted distinct female ornaments in the Goodeinae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marcela Méndez-Janovitz
- Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, México.,Posgrado en Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México City, México
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8
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Schlupp I. Male mate choice in livebearing fishes: an overview. Curr Zool 2018; 64:393-403. [PMID: 30402080 PMCID: PMC6007348 DOI: 10.1093/cz/zoy028] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/01/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Although the majority of studies on mate choice focus on female mate choice, there is growing recognition of the role of male mate choice too. Male mate choice is tightly linked to 2 other phenomena: female competition for males and ornamentation in females. In the current article, I review the existing literature on this in a group of fishes, Poeciliidae. In this group, male mate choice appears to be based on differences in female quality, especially female size, which is a proxy for fecundity. Some males also have to choose between heterospecific and conspecific females in the unusual mating system of the Amazon molly. In this case, they typically show a preference for conspecific females. Whereas male mate choice is relatively well documented for this family, female ornamentation and female competition are not.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ingo Schlupp
- Department of Biology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA
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9
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Tina FW, Jaroensutasinee M, Jaroensutasinee K. Receiver female body size and distances affect the claw-waving rate of signaller males in fiddler crabs (Brachyura, Ocypodidae). BEHAVIOUR 2018. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
We tested for the first time how Austruca bengali Crane, 1975 signaller males adjusted their waving rates based on receiver female body sizes and their distances. We video recorded the waving display of 46 males (9–12 mm carapace width) for 30 s, and counted their waving rate. Receiver females were categorised as small (8–10 mm carapace width) and large (>10 mm). Distances between males and females were categorised as short (⩽12 cm) and long (>12 cm) distances. Our results indicate that males are able to measure distances and female sizes, and adjust their waving display by actively reducing waving rate (1) towards small females, as usually small females have lower fecundity compared to large ones and (2) towards females at very close distance because at this point, the females would make their mating decision, and thus males start to lead/hit the females towards their burrow rather than waving vigorously.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fahmida W. Tina
- Centre of Excellence for Ecoinformatics, School of Science, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80161, Thailand
| | - M. Jaroensutasinee
- Centre of Excellence for Ecoinformatics, School of Science, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80161, Thailand
| | - K. Jaroensutasinee
- Centre of Excellence for Ecoinformatics, School of Science, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat 80161, Thailand
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10
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Do male fish prefer them big and colourful? Non-random male courtship effort in a viviparous fish with negligible paternal investment. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-017-2385-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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11
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Kolluru GR, Bertram SM, Chin EH, Dunmeyer CV, Graves JS. Mating behavior and its morphological correlates in two color morphs of Girardinus metallicus (Pisces: Poeciliidae), a species previously thought not to exhibit courtship display. Behav Processes 2014; 106:44-52. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2014.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/11/2014] [Revised: 02/24/2014] [Accepted: 04/07/2014] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
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12
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Barrett LT, Evans JP, Gasparini C. The effects of perceived mating opportunities on patterns of reproductive investment by male guppies. PLoS One 2014; 9:e93780. [PMID: 24705713 PMCID: PMC3976321 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093780] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2014] [Accepted: 03/07/2014] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Males pay considerable reproductive costs in acquiring mates (precopulatory sexual selection) and in producing ejaculates that are effective at fertilising eggs in the presence of competing ejaculates (postcopulatory sexual selection). Given these costs, males must balance their reproductive investment in a given mating to optimise their future reproductive potential. Males are therefore expected to invest in reproduction prudently according to the likelihood of obtaining future matings. In this study we tested this prediction by determining whether male reproductive investment varies with expected future mating opportunities, which were experimentally manipulated by visually exposing male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to high or low numbers of females in the absence of competing males. Our experiment did not reveal consistent effects of perceived future mating opportunity on either precopulatory (male mate choice and mating behaviour) or postcopulatory (sperm quality and quantity) investment. However, we did find that male size and female availability interacted to influence mating behaviour; large males visually deprived of females during the treatment phase became more choosy and showed greater interest in their preferred female than those given continuous visual access to females. Overall, our results suggest males tailor pre- rather than postcopulatory traits according to local female availability, but critically, these effects depend on male size.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luke T. Barrett
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Jonathan P. Evans
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Clelia Gasparini
- Centre for Evolutionary Biology, School of Animal Biology, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
- * E-mail:
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