Mutual mate choice in crayfish: large body size is selected by both sexes, virginity by males only

Aquiloni, Laura; Gherardi, Francesca

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00370.x

Cited by 59 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Contrary to A. italicus, however, the preference of P. clarkii females is directed to large males, independently of their claw size (Aquiloni & Gherardi 2008a), and the number of the extruded eggs is kept constant. This might imply that females of this species cannot vary clutch size (which is, however, size dependent; L. Aquiloni 2005, personal observation), but are apparently free to modulate egg size and weight (both of which are size independent; L. Aquiloni 2005, personal observation).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence of female cryptic choice in crayfish

Aquiloni

Gherardi

2008

Biol. Lett.

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To test whether male body size affects female reproductive investment in the polygamous crayfish Procambarus clarkii, we described mating behaviour of virgin females paired with either small or large males, and analysed the number, size and weight of both eggs and juveniles sired by either types of male. Along with confirming the overt selection by females of larger mates, we found that the size and weight of both the eggs and the juveniles were higher when sired by larger fathers. This suggests that P. clarkii females exert a form of cryptic choice for large males, seemingly adjusting the quantity of egg deutoplasm in function of the mate body size. The question of why females spend time and energy to brood lowfitness offspring is finally raised.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent laboratory study showed that females of the crayfish Procambarus clarkii select large-sized rather than large-clawed mates (Aquiloni & Gherardi 2008a). This suggests that body dimension is taken as an index of male quality in this species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of female cryptic choice in crayfish

Aquiloni

Gherardi

2008

Biol. Lett.

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“…rock shrimp Rhynchocinetes typus, Díaz and Thiel 2003; the stone crab, Sato and Goshima 2007b; red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, Aquiloni and Gherardi 2008). Larger males will disproportionately contribute to reproduction of populations through sexual selection, resulting in the fact that several decapod crustaceans commonly exhibits clear sexual size dimorphism in which the mean body size of males is larger than that of females.…”

Section: -1 Decreased Difference In Body Size Between Mates: Femalementioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Large Male-Selective Harvesting on Reproduction: Illustration with Large Decapod Crustacean Resources

Sato¹

2012

Aqua-BioSci. Monogr. (ABSM)

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Keywordsbeen reported in many species of vertebrates and invertebrates (e.g. Bianchi et al. 2000;Branch and Odendaal 2003;Roy et al. 2003;Harvey et al. 2006).In a wide range of taxa, body size is one of the key determinants of fitness in both males and females (Andersson 1994). For example, body size is positively correlated with reproductive fitness (e.g. mating success and fecundity). Mostly, larger males are stronger competitors for females (e.g. Hoefler 2007) or can provide more ejaculated sperm (e.g. Jivoff 1997), or better care for the offspring (e.g. Kolm 2002). In females, body size positively correlates with egg size (e.g. Einum and Fleming 1999), number of spawning (e.g. Claramunt et al. 2007), number of eggs spawned (e.g. Evans et al. 2008), or quality of larvae (e.g. Berkeley et al. 2004). Therefore, mate choice is non-random in the majority of animal species (Real 1990), and males and females prefer larger mates mutually (e.g. Sandvik et al. 2000;Herdman et al. 2004; Aquiloni and Gherardi AbstractTo signal a need for caution for present large male-selective harvesting practices, negative impacts of the large male-selective harvesting on reproductive output in large decapod crustacean resources are introduced with emphasis on my own work with spiny king crab Paralithodes brevipes, coconut crab Birgus latro, and the stone crab Hapalogaster dentata. The large male-selective harvestings for several large decapod crustaceans have changed their population demographic structure by decreasing mean male size and skewing sex ratio towards females. By several field and laboratory experiments, the change of population demographic structure was anticipated to decrease female reproductive success in the resources (i.e. reproductive output of the harvested populations) through a decrease in sperm availability for females because of male size-dependent reproductive potentials and slow sperm recovery rate. Furthermore, reproductive output and stability of the large male-selective harvested resources were also anticipated to decline by a decrease in mate availability for females, attributing to combination of female mate choice for larger males with negative effects of female delayed mating and/or maternal influences. To establish the optimal management practices, the details of the mating system and reproductive ecology of each targeted species should be investigated.

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“…Hence, mate choice is nonrandom in the majority of animal species (Real 1990), and males and females mutually prefer larger mates (e.g. Aquiloni and Gherardi 2008). Moreover, malemale competition is also unknown in squat lobsters.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Absence of a prezygotic behavioural barrier to gene flow between the two sympatric morphs of the squat lobster Munida gregaria (Fabricius, 1793) (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheidae)

2011

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Munida gregaria and M. subrugosa have been considered two different species for more than a century; however, after a recent molecular phylogenetic study, they are considered a single polymorphic species. Yet, the use of markers to diagnose species may be misleading when divergence between species is recent, since a speciation event may be obscured by the retention and stochastic sorting of ancestral polymorphisms. The morphs gregaria and subrugosa of Munida gregaria constitute an interesting case for the study of behavioural isolation since they are sympatric, breed at the same time of the year, and might have experienced a recent speciation. Mating behaviour observations and mate choice mating trials were conducted in order to investigate the potential existence of a behavioural prezygotic barrier to gene flow between these two morphs. Since factors involved in mate choice in galatheids are unknown, the four possible combinations of the two different morphs in trios were used to test for the existence of mate choice. Video recordings of all the possible trio combinations revealed that there was cross-attraction between males and females of different morphs. Females bearing partial broods participated in encounters as well as non-ovigerous females. The frequency and duration of homo-and heterotypic encounters were registered, and a reproductive isolation index was calculated for each variable for each trio. The isolation indexes calculated were not different from zero indicating random mating, and were not affected by the composition of the trio or the partial ovigerous condition of females. These results provided evidence of the absence of behavioural prezygotic barriers to gene flow between the morphs gregaria and subrugosa of M. gregaria.

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Mutual mate choice in crayfish: large body size is selected by both sexes, virginity by males only

Cited by 59 publications

References 60 publications

Evidence of female cryptic choice in crayfish

Evidence of female cryptic choice in crayfish

Impacts of Large Male-Selective Harvesting on Reproduction: Illustration with Large Decapod Crustacean Resources

Absence of a prezygotic behavioural barrier to gene flow between the two sympatric morphs of the squat lobster Munida gregaria (Fabricius, 1793) (Decapoda: Anomura: Galatheidae)

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