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Classical models of grooming predict that subordinate primates will direct grooming towards dominants to receive coalitionary support from them. In contrast, recent reviews suggest that grooming asymmetries can change with social system and ecological conditions and should reflect asymmetries in services provided by different members of the dyad. We studied grooming patterns between females in six wild groups of common marmosets, Callithrix jacchus, to investigate the relation between social structure and grooming between females in a cooperatively breeding species. We observed grooming frequently and consistently in all study groups. Breeding females groomed nonbreeding females more than vice versa, and grooming between breeding and nonbreeding females was not related to agonistic behaviour. Our results provide some support to the hypothesis that grooming asymmetries are related to differences in services provided by different group members. We suggest that, in cooperatively breeding systems, breeding females may use grooming as an incentive for helper females to stay in the group.

New insights into the mating systems of common marmosets suggest that they are mainly monogamous, although polygyny and polyandry occasionally occur. Long-term monitoring of wild common marmosets has shown that some reports of polygynous groups (i.e., groups that contain more than one reproducing female) in fact indicate an unbalanced reproductive output associated with extragroup copulation. In this study we describe the behavioral and hormonal profiles of common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) females living in three wild monogamous groups (Q, PBf, and T), varying from five to 11 individuals, at Nísia Floresta field station, RN, Brazil. The mating system of the groups was previously characterized in terms of affiliative, sexual, and mate-guarding behaviors. Behavioral data were collected once a week, and fecal samples were collected at least twice a week for 10-16 months, depending on the group. A preferential allogrooming relationship was recorded between dominant males and females. Under field conditions the reproductive inhibition of subordinate females appears to be more behavioral than hormonal, since subordinate females of the three groups ovulated and two conceived during the study. In these cases, the subordinate and dominant females reproduced 1 month apart, and infanticide (one case confirmed and one suspected) appeared to be part of the reproductive strategy of dominant females. Following the infanticide, ovarian inhibition (group T) or emigration and return to the natal group (group PBf) were observed. In the third group (Q) the subordinate female showed hormonal profiles compatible with pregnancy, but no infants were seen. These findings reflect the different alternatives that wild subordinate common marmoset females use to reproduce.

Lack of information on the daily activity patterns of Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone 1931) might result in inadequate feed management strategies in shrimp farms. In order to provide information to improve feed management in shrimp farms, the daily activity of juvenile shrimp reared in glass aquaria was studied, using L. vannamei (7.57±1.01 g), equivalent to 33 shrimp m−2. Thirty‐two shrimp were observed, half in light and half in dark phase, over 280 h in 15 min h−1 windows. Feed was provided once a day, at 10% of tank biomass. Swimming, exploration of substrate, inactivity and cleaning were recorded through instantaneous focal sampling. During the dark phase, swimming was predominant and alternated with exploration. In the light phase, inactivity was predominant, and again alternated with exploration. Cleaning occurred evenly in both the light and the dark. Substrate exploration, which characterizes the search for food, occurred in both dark and light phases, with a most intense peak 7 h after light phase onset, indicating this as the optimal feed offer.

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