Feeding efficiency and food competition in coexisting sexual and asexual livebearing fishes of the genus Poecilia

Scharnweber, Kristin; Plath, Martin; Tobler, Michael

doi:10.1007/s10641-010-9732-8

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…In conclusion, dietary segregation between sexual and asexual Poecilia species is weak, albeit variable over time. In another study, no difference in feeding behaviour between the two reproductive modes was detectable (Scharnweber et al , 2011). Poecilia formosa was not inferior in acquiring resources, and competitive abilities did not differ between the two reproductive modes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Dietary niche overlap in sympatric asexual and sexual livebearing fishes Poecilia spp.

Scharnweber

Plath

Winemiller

et al. 2011

Journal of Fish Biology

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The present study investigated the spatiotemporal patterns in trophic resource use in a system of a gynogenetic poeciliid fish, the Amazon molly Poecilia formosa, and its sexual congeners the sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna and the Atlantic molly Poecilia mexicana using gut contents analysis. No statistically significant differences in trophic resource use were found between sexual and gynogenetic species, but gut contents varied significantly across sites and over time. In addition, variation in trophic morphology (i.e. gut length) was significant across sites but not species, and laboratory experiments indicated that gut length is phenotypically plastic. Overall, trophic differentiation between coexisting asexual and sexual Poecilia appears to be minimal, and it is unlikely that niche differentiation contributes to a stable coexistence of the two reproductive forms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Dietary niche overlap in sympatric asexual and sexual livebearing fishes Poecilia spp.

Scharnweber

Plath

Winemiller

et al. 2011

Journal of Fish Biology

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“…For instance, both P. latipinna and P. formosa consume the same diet, at the same rate, and are not affected by either heterospecific or conspecific competition (Heubel ; Fischer & Schlupp ; Scharnweber et al. ,b; ). Life histories are also very similar between the two species: both reproduce about every 30 d, have equivalent fecundity (Schlupp et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Female‐Female Aggression in a Sexual/Unisexual Species Complex

Makowicz

Schlupp

2015

Ethology

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The maintenance of sexual reproduction is still a largely unresolved question in evolutionary biology, and one of the most puzzling aspects of this is the coexistence of sexual and asexual females. This often leads to widespread niche overlap, posing an interesting challenge to competitive exclusion theory. In this study, we investigate how the aggressive behaviors between females in a sexual/unisexual mating complex of mollies (Poecilia latipinna and P. formosa) differ, and the effects these behaviors have on both the performer and receiver of aggressive acts. We exposed females to five treatments: (1) alone (control); (2) a large and small sexual female; (3) a large sexual female and a small unisexual female; (4) a small sexual female and a large unisexual female; and (5) a large and small unisexual female. We found that P. formosa females were on average more aggressive over time when compared to their sexual hosts, P. latipinna. The females of P. formosa, however, incurred a higher cost of being aggressive. Large, aggressor females of this species had a lower body fat content than their conspecific recipients. By contrast, P. latipinna females showed no differentiation between aggressors and recipients. Here, we combine life history methodology and behavioral observations to show that female competition can in fact be quantitatively measured and that these aggressive behaviors are costly to perform. The adaptive value of this interspecies aggression is not yet completely understood, but sexual competition, access to resources, and position within the shoal are all possible functions.

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“…While we have no obvious explanation at hand for the negative correlation between DO and activity, we tentatively argue that other environmental factors, which have not been assessed in our present study, might be intercorrelated with the factor “DO.” One possible scenario is that slightly lower DO indicates that densities of (oxygen‐producing) microalgae are also low. Microalgae serve as a food source for several poeciliids (Dussault & Kramer, ; Karino & Haijima, ; Meffe & Snelson, ) including members of the subgenus Mollienesia to which P. vivipara belong (Scharnweber, Plath, & Tobler, ; Scharnweber, Plath, Winemiller, & Tobler, ), and fish from habitats with low algal productivity might need to swim more actively between food patches to find sufficient food.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predation risk and abiotic habitat parameters affect personality traits in extremophile populations of a neotropical fish (Poecilia vivipara)

Sommer-Trembo

Petry

Silva

et al. 2017

Ecology and Evolution

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Understanding whether and how ambient ecological conditions affect the distribution of personality types within and among populations lies at the heart of research on animal personality. Several studies have focussed on only one agent of divergent selection (or driver of plastic changes in behavior), considering either predation risk or a single abiotic ecological factor. Here, we investigated how an array of abiotic and biotic environmental factors simultaneously shape population differences in boldness, activity in an open‐field test, and sociability/shoaling in the livebearing fish Poecilia vivipara from six ecologically different lagoons in southeastern Brazil. We evaluated the relative contributions of variation in predation risk, water transparency/visibility, salinity (ranging from oligo‐ to hypersaline), and dissolved oxygen. We also investigated the role played by environmental factors for the emergence, strength, and direction of behavioral correlations. Water transparency explained most of the behavioral variation, whereby fish from lagoons with low water transparency were significantly shyer, less active, and shoaled less than fish living under clear water conditions. When we tested additional wild‐caught fish from the same lagoons after acclimating them to homogeneous laboratory conditions, population differences were largely absent, pointing toward behavioral plasticity as a mechanism underlying the observed behavioral differences. Furthermore, we found correlations between personality traits (behavioral syndromes) to vary substantially in strength and direction among populations, with no obvious associations with ecological factors (including predation risk). Altogether, our results suggest that various habitat parameters simultaneously shape the distribution of personality types, with abiotic factors playing a vital (as yet underestimated) role. Furthermore, while predation is often thought to lead to the emergence of behavioral syndromes, our data do not support this assumption.

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Feeding efficiency and food competition in coexisting sexual and asexual livebearing fishes of the genus Poecilia

Cited by 19 publications

References 48 publications

Dietary niche overlap in sympatric asexual and sexual livebearing fishes Poecilia spp.

Dietary niche overlap in sympatric asexual and sexual livebearing fishes Poecilia spp.

Effects of Female‐Female Aggression in a Sexual/Unisexual Species Complex

Predation risk and abiotic habitat parameters affect personality traits in extremophile populations of a neotropical fish (Poecilia vivipara)

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