Agonistic Behavior and Social Inhibition of Maturation in Fishes of the Genus Xiphophorus (Poeciliidae)

Borowsky, Richard

doi:10.2307/1445679

Cited by 30 publications

(20 citation statements)

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“…The inhibition of juvenile males forces them to invest in growth to achieve a larger body size before becoming mature, presumably increasing their reproductive success by improving their ability to compete for access to females. Although social inhibition of male maturation has been documented in a variety of fish (e.g., Borowsky 1978Borowsky , 1987Sohn 1977;in bluegill: Jennings et al 1997;Aday et al 2003), this is the first investigation we are aware of that quantifies the interaction between socially-mediated maturation schedules and resource availability. Our results demonstrate that juvenile males are inhibited by larger males regardless of resource level, and also point to the potential for interesting growth-maturation tradeoffs that are dependent on resource availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Sex-specific life history patterns in bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus): interacting mechanisms influence individual body size

2005

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The ultimate body size that an individual fish achieves can be a function both of direct effects of growth or indirect effects associated with the timing of sexual maturation (and associated energetic tradeoffs). These alternatives are often invoked to explain variation in body size within and among fish populations, but have rarely been considered simultaneously. We assessed how resource availability and timing of maturation interact to influence individual body size of bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus). Resource availability (high and low food) and the social structure of the population (presence or absence of large, mature males) were varied in experimental ponds. Food ration affected growth (larger fish in the high food treatments) and the social structure of the population affected timing of maturation (early maturation of males in the absence of large males). Treatment effects, however, were sex-specific; males responded to the social structure of the population and females were more responsive to resource availability. We also found individuals that became sexually mature were smaller than those that remained immature, although results were sex-specific and resource dependent. For males, individuals that matured were smaller when resources were limited; mature and immature females showed no difference in body size regardless of food ration. We show that both resource availability and the processes that control timing of maturation interact in sex-specific ways to influence body size of bluegill. These results suggest that a more robust explanation for variable body size requires consideration of sex-specific interactions between ecological (food and growth) and evolutionary (timing of maturation) mechanisms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Sex-specific life history patterns in bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus): interacting mechanisms influence individual body size

2005

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“…But why should subordinates or individuals who perceive themselves to be smaller have a greater penchant for escalatory behavior? In the hierarchical social system of swordtails, dominant males exclude small subordinates from mating opportunities and often inhibit sexual maturation (Beaugrand et al 1984;Borowsky 1987). Because low status likely bears a high cost, smaller animals may initiate aggression in an attempt to deter their opponent and potentially increase their status.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To see or not to see: does previewing a future opponent affect the contest behavior of green swordtail males (Xiphophorus helleri)?

Earley

Tinsley

Dugatkin

2003

Naturwissenschaften

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Animals assess the fighting ability of conspecifics either by engaging in aggressive interactions or observing contests between others. However, whether individuals assess physical prowess outside the context of aggressive interactions remains unknown. We examined whether male green swordtails ( Xiphophorus helleri) extract information about the fighting ability of solitary individuals via observation and whether acquiring such information elicits behavioral modifications. Contests preceded by mutual visual assessment were significantly shorter than fights where only one or neither of the two individuals was informed in advance. Focal animals initiated aggressive behavior more often against larger opponents only after previewing their adversary, indicating that swordtails can extract information about relative body size from watching solitary conspecifics. When a fighting disadvantage is perceived, observers adopt tactics that increase their probability of winning the contest.

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“…A simple F-test directed toward this hypothesis would yield a probability level less than 0.05, but this procedure is clearly ad hoc and questionable without a multiple comparison allowance. The extreme difference is striking, as is the fact that the difference occurs in age at maturity, a variable that one might have postulated to behave in this manner a priori (see Borowsky & Diffley 1981, Borowsky 1987. If the phenomenon were real it could have interesting demographic consequences (Gurney & Nisbet 1985), and thus it warrants further study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This increased variation would be a direct result of social inhibition of a subordinate fish by a dominant fish (Borowsky 1987). This effect was perhaps more likely than any effect on the average performance because we kept the amount of food per individual constant between treatments.…”

Section: Statistical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Variation in growth rate and size at maturity have been tied directly to agonistic interaction among juveniles in Xiphophoru.s variatus (Borowsky 1973a(Borowsky , 1987, X. maculatus (Sohn 1977a), Girardinus metallicus (Farr 1980), and Poecilia reticulata (Nagoshi 1967). None of these species exhibits the extreme variation in size found in P. latipinna, but adult size, particularly that of males, is affected by juvenile social interaction in all species studied to date.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The effect of ontogenetic experience on variation in growth, maturation, and sexual behavior in the sailfin molly,Poecilia latipinna (Pisces: Poeciliidae)

Farr

Travis

1989

Environ Biol Fish

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SynopsisWe investigated the potential effect of social interactions between juveniles on the adult body size and male sexual behavior of the live-bearing teleost Poecilia latipinna, the sailfin molly. Contrary to expectation, juveniles exhibited very low levels of aggression. Juvenile growth rates did not differ between fish raised alone and fish raised in pairs (although males reared alone were slightly larger at one point in time), and the variance between members of a pair did not exceed the variance displayed among isolated individuals. Similar results were found for age and size at sexual maturation in males. Females reared in isolation were slightly but significantly larger at maturity than females raised in pairs. There was some evidence that females raised in pairs displayed coordinated development. Male sexual behavior patterns displayed relationships with body size that matched previous descriptions: there was no effect of the rearing condition once body size effects were accounted for. These results differ dramatically from those described for other poeciliids.

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Agonistic Behavior and Social Inhibition of Maturation in Fishes of the Genus Xiphophorus (Poeciliidae)

Cited by 30 publications

References 0 publications

Sex-specific life history patterns in bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus): interacting mechanisms influence individual body size

Sex-specific life history patterns in bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus): interacting mechanisms influence individual body size

To see or not to see: does previewing a future opponent affect the contest behavior of green swordtail males (Xiphophorus helleri)?

The effect of ontogenetic experience on variation in growth, maturation, and sexual behavior in the sailfin molly,Poecilia latipinna (Pisces: Poeciliidae)

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