A proximate cue for oviposition site choice in the bitterling (<i>Rhodeus sericeus</i>)

Smith, Carl; Rippon, Karina; Douglas, Alex; Jurajda, Pavel

doi:10.1046/j.1365-2427.2001.00725.x

Cited by 73 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…These two behaviours considerably increase the conspicuousness to males of females that are about to spawn, and may serve as cues to males that a spawning is imminent. Mussel inspection precedes most spawnings and probably serves in assessment of mussel quality (Smith et al 2001). The function of skimming, which involves a female performing a spawning action but without inserting her ovipositor into the mussel gill chamber, is not understood, but is a further conspicuous cue, and possibly a signal, that a female may be about to spawn.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Females solicit sneakers to improve fertilization success in the bitterling fish ( Rhodeus sericeus )

Smith

Reichard

2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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In most species there is greater variance in reproductive fitness among males than females. A consequence is the evolution of alternative male mating tactics, including sneaking behaviour whereby males attempt to mate with females courted by other males, which could undermine female choice. In bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus), fish that lay their eggs on the gills of living freshwater mussels, sneaking is common and successful. Here we show that female bitterling can significantly improve their fertility with an increase in the number of spawning partners. Females perform conspicuous behaviours associated with spawning more frequently close to sneakers, and spawn more eggs close to high-quality sneakers. This is the first time that females have been shown to engage in behaviour that increases the probability of sneaking, and raises the possibility of a sexual conflict over the number and source of ejaculates during spawning in this species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Females solicit sneakers to improve fertilization success in the bitterling fish ( Rhodeus sericeus )

Smith

Reichard

2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…In the European bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus), a species of fish that spawns on the gills of freshwater mussels, females use oxygen as a cue to locate mussels in which their eggs will suffer lowest mortalities from suffocation (Smith et al 2000). By sampling the oxygen emerging from the exhalent siphon, the females may detect the suitability of mussels as spawning hosts (Smith et al 2001). Several studies have demonstrated that females prefer to spawn with males that already have egg clutches present in their nest (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The two possible explanations for this difference are that either females lay eggs at a lower density in single-entry than five-entry condos, or males may cannibalize clutches to a greater extent in single-entry condos. There is clear evidence that female fishes are choosy about where they spawn (Itzkowitz & Makie 1986;Gronell 1989;Sikkel 1989Sikkel , 1994Itzkowitz 1991;Knapp et al 1995;Smith et al 2001), and females of some species appear able to distribute a single clutch among several males (e.g. Trexler et al 1997;Jones et al 2001), indicating some control over clutch size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filial cannibalism improves survival and development of beaugregory damselfish embryos

Payne

Smith

Campbell

2002

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Cannibalism of small numbers of offspring by a parent has been proposed as an adaptive parental strategy, by providing energy to support parental care. However, there are few empirical studies to support this hypothesis. We conducted field and laboratory experiments to investigate partial filial cannibalism in Stegastes leucostictus, a coral reef fish with paternal care. Partial cannibalism was shown to be common, and males were found to remove developing embryos from throughout a clutch in a random pattern, rather than in the more aggregated pattern seen during embryo predation. Males that received a diet supplement grew faster than control males, but did not engage in less cannibalism. Also, males did not concentrate cannibalism on early embryonic stages with the highest energetic value. Experimental reduction of embryo densities was found to significantly increase embryo development rate and survival from egg deposition to hatching, and experimental reduction of oxygen levels significantly increased rates of partial filial cannibalism by males. Artificial spawning sites with low oxygen levels were avoided by spawning females, and cannibalism rates by males were higher. We propose that partial filial cannibalism serves as an adaptive parental strategy to low oxygen levels in S. leucostictus by increasing the hatching success of embryos.

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“…We also cannot rule out a role for oxygen concentration as a cue, except in the test with artificial mussels, in which oxygen concentration should have been the same in high and low ventilating mussels. Smith et al (2001) suggested that a drop in oxygen concentration between the inhalant and exhalant siphon may be important in the discrimination of bitterling against the least preferred mussel species, A. cygnea. We suggest that mussel ventilation rates and flow speeds are used by female bitterling as important proximate cues in host selection.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The European bitterling has been shown to respond to mussel smell and exhalant water velocity from dummy mussels (Heschl 1989). Smith et al (2001) provided circumstantial evidence that the oxygen content of water emerging from a mussel may be a cue for oviposition site choice. This paper uses host experiments covering a range of potential host properties, including species smell, species shell type and ventilation rate, to determine which host traits govern a female's spawning decision.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mussel ventilation rates as a proximate cue for host selection by bitterling, Rhodeus sericeus

Mills

Reynolds

2002

Oecologia

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A range of cues may be used by parasites in selecting hosts, yet few studies have examined multiple cues simultaneously. We investigated the proximate cues involved in spawning decisions of the European bitterling, Rhodeus sericeus, a species of fish which lays its eggs in four species of freshwater mussel. When offered a choice of both live and artificial mussels within a single species, females preferred mussels that have high flow speeds and that pump a large volume of water per unit time. Furthermore, the time taken to spawn for a second time in a mussel was accurately predicted from a mussel's ventilation rate. These bitterling preferences based on mussel ventilation rates may benefit the embryos through enhanced oxygenation. We found no preferences for mussel species based on visual or olfactory cues, though the latter cannot be ruled out entirely. Ventilation rates should indicate the quality of host species for offspring survival.

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A proximate cue for oviposition site choice in the bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus)

Cited by 73 publications

References 21 publications

Females solicit sneakers to improve fertilization success in the bitterling fish ( Rhodeus sericeus )

Females solicit sneakers to improve fertilization success in the bitterling fish ( Rhodeus sericeus )

Filial cannibalism improves survival and development of beaugregory damselfish embryos

Mussel ventilation rates as a proximate cue for host selection by bitterling, Rhodeus sericeus

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