Frequency–dependent numerical dynamics in mosquitofish

Horth, Lisa; Travis, Joseph

doi:10.1098/rspb.2002.2143

Cited by 22 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…Rankin & Ló pez-Sepulcre 2005;Dieckmann & Metz 2006;Rankin et al in press). For example, in mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki, an increase in the frequency of a rare, melanic male type leads to elevated female mortality and reduced temporal variation in female numbers (Horth & Travis 2002). A mating preference for rare, melanic males in this species would therefore have effects on both population density and stability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of frequency-dependent mate choice: keeping up with fashion trends

2007

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The diversity of sexual traits favoured by females is enormous and, curiously, includes preferences for males with rare or novel phenotypes. We modelled the evolution of a preference for rarity that yielded two surprising results. First, a Fisherian 'sexy son' effect can boost female preferences to a frequency well above that predicted by mutation-selection balance, even if there are significant mortality costs for females. Preferences do not reach fixation, however, as they are subject to frequency-dependent selection: if choosy females are too common, then rare genotypes in one generation become common, and thus unattractive, in the offspring generation. Nevertheless, even at relatively low frequency, preferences maintain polymorphism in male traits. The second unexpected result is that the preferences can evolve to much higher frequencies if choice is hindered, such that females cannot always express their preferences. Our results emphasize the need to consider feedback where preferences determine the dynamics of male genotypes and vice versa. They also highlight the similarity between the arbitrariness of behavioural norms in models of social evolution with punishment (the so-called 'folk theorem') and the diversity of sexual traits that can be preferred simply because deviating from the norm produces unattractive offspring and is, in this sense, 'punished'.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of frequency-dependent mate choice: keeping up with fashion trends

2007

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“…Silver fish were used as background fishes because the mean frequency of melanism in nature is low (0.01 ± 0.02 s.e.m. ; Horth & Travis 2002), suggesting that the most likely colour for a male randomly encountered in nature is silver.…”

Section: (C) Social Background Fishesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other populations (e.g. Newport Springs and St Marks, FL, USA ;Horth 2001;Horth & Travis 2002; see also Regan 1961;Martin 1984;Angus 1989), there exists a silver genotype, but in place of the constitutive melanic genotype there exists a temperature-sensitive melanic genotype, for which black body colour is expressed in cold conditions and silver body colour is expressed in warm conditions. The silver phenotype is indistinguishable from that of the silver genotype previously described.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Melanic body colour and aggressive mating behaviour are correlated traits in male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)

Horth

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

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Correlated traits are important from an evolutionary perspective as natural selection acting on one trait may indirectly affect other traits. Further, the response to selection can be constrained or hastened as a result of correlations. Because mating behaviour and body colour can dramatically affect fitness, a correlation between them can have important fitness ramifications. In this work, melanic (black) male mosquitofishes (Gambusia holbrooki) with temperature-sensitive body-colour expression are bred in captivity. Half of the sons of each melanic sire are reared at 19°C (and express a black body colour) and half are reared at 31°C (and express a silver body colour). The two colour morphs are placed in the same social setting and monitored for behavioural differences. Mating behaviour and colour are correlated traits. Mating behaviour differs markedly between the two phenotypes, despite high genetic relatedness. Melanic (black) phenotypes are more aggressive towards females, chasing them and attempting more matings than their silver siblings. Females avoid melanic-male mating attempts more than silver-male mating attempts. When males with temperature-sensitive colour expression are melanic and aggressive, they probably experience a very different selective regime in nature from when they are silver and less aggressive. Under some conditions (e.g. predation), melanic coloration and/or aggression is advantageous compared with silver coloration and/or less aggressive behaviour. However, under different conditions (e.g. high-frequency melanism), melanism and/or aggression appears to be disadvantageous and melanic males have reduced survival and reproduction. Selective advantages to each morph under different conditions may enable the long-term persistence of this temperature-sensitive genotype.

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“…Relative overproduction of males by melanic sires could act as compensation for the loss of phenotypic expression in F1 silver males. Female numbers decreased with increasing frequencies of melanic males in empirical mesocosm populations (Horth and Travis, 2002), though whether this occurred solely as a result of female deaths or because of a skewed F1 sex ratio as well, is not known. (4) Melanic expression appears to be sex linked, not sex limited.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Melanism is absent in western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) and is rare in eastern mosquitofish (G. holbrooki) (Regan, 1961;Snelson et al, 1986) where it occurs in ~ 0.01% of males in nature (Horth and Travis, 2002). Natural selection acts differentially on silver and melanic eastern male mosquitofish: melanic mosquitofish are subjected to a lower predation rate (and higher recapture rate in nature) than silver males (Horth, 2004) and negative frequencydependent survival is also associated with melanism in this species (Horth and Travis, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A sex-linked allele, autosomal modifiers and temperature-dependence appear to regulate melanism in male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)

Horth

2006

Journal of Experimental Biology

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SUMMARY About 1% of male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki) express melanic(mottled-black) body coloration, which differs dramatically from the wild-type, silvery-gray coloration. Here, I report on the genetic inheritance pattern of melanic coloration, which indicates Y-linkage, and at least one autosomal modifier. Phenotypic expression of melanism is also affected by temperature. Expression is constitutive (temperature insensitive) in some populations, inducible (temperature sensitive) in others. Constitutive and inducible expression occur among geographically proximal populations. However,males from any single population demonstrate the same constitutive or inducible expression pattern as one another. The F1 males from inter-population crosses demonstrate temperature-related expression patterns like their sires'. As well, the sex ratio of melanic males' progeny differs among populations. Here, inter-population crosses demonstrate a sex-ratio bias in the same direction as intra-population crosses of the sire population. About 20% of the male progeny of melanic sires express the wild-type phenotype. These silver F1 males sire only silver offspring, suggestive of loss of the melanin gene in F1 males from crossover between sex chromosomes,or control by additional modifiers, or involvement of additional factors. In nature, melanic males persist at very low frequencies. The data collected here on heritability indicate that genetic factors contribute to the rarity of melanic male mosquitofish.

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Frequency–dependent numerical dynamics in mosquitofish

Cited by 22 publications

References 73 publications

Evolution of frequency-dependent mate choice: keeping up with fashion trends

Evolution of frequency-dependent mate choice: keeping up with fashion trends

Melanic body colour and aggressive mating behaviour are correlated traits in male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)

A sex-linked allele, autosomal modifiers and temperature-dependence appear to regulate melanism in male mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)

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