Predictors of male insemination success in the mosquitofish (<i>Gambusia holbrooki</i>)

Head, Megan L.; Vega‐Trejo, Regina; Jacomb, Frances; Jennions, Michael D.

doi:10.1002/ece3.1775

Cited by 32 publications

(45 citation statements)

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“…We measured gonopodium length, which affects female mate choice in some poeciliids and has been implicated as a potentially important trait affecting sperm transfer [109–112]. Unexpectedly, we found that small and medium-sized males on a restricted diet early in life had a longer gonopodium, corrected for body size, than those on a regular diet [60, 113]. The fitness consequences of this change in allometry are unclear.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?

2016

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BackgroundChallenging conditions experienced early in life, such as a restricted diet, can detrimentally affect key life-history traits. Individuals can reduce these costs by delaying their sexual maturation, albeit at the price of the later onset of breeding, to eventually reach the same adult size as individuals that grow up in a benevolent environment. Delayed maturation can, however, still lead to other detrimental morphological and physiological changes that become apparent later in adulthood (e.g. shorter lifespan, faster senescence). In general, research focuses on the naturally selected costs of a poor early diet. In mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), males with limited food intake early in life delay maturation to reach a similar adult body size to their well-fed counterparts (‘catch-up growth’). Here we tested whether a poor early diet is costly due to the reduced expression of sexually selected male characters, namely genital size and ejaculate traits.ResultsWe found that a male’s diet early in life significantly influenced his sperm reserves and sperm replenishment rate. Shortly after maturation males with a restricted early diet had significantly lower sperm reserves and slower replenishment rates than control diet males, but this dietary difference was no longer detectable in older males.ConclusionsAlthough delaying maturation to reach the same body size as well fed juveniles can ameliorate some costs of a poor start in life, our findings suggest that costs might still arise because of sexual selection against these males. It should be noted, however, that the observed effects are modest (Hedges’ g = 0.20–0.36), and the assumption that lower sperm production translates into a decline in fitness under sperm competition remains unconfirmed.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0838-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?

2016

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“…In total, 196 sons (58 Lc, 67 Sc, 10 La, 19 Sa, 21 Li and 21 Si) were tested to measure their reproductive performance. We measured seven traits previously linked to male reproductive success (e.g., Head et al , ; Head et al , ): (a) time to maturity, (b) body size at maturity, (c) relative gonopodium length, (d) attractiveness to females, (e) sexual behaviour, (f) sperm number and (g) sperm velocity.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In total,196 sons (58 Lc,67 Sc,10 La,19 Sa,21 Li and 21 Si) were tested to measure their reproductive performance. We measured seven traits previously linked to male reproductive success (e.g., Head et al, 2017;Head et al, 2015): 21-23 mm in size, which is the modal range in the study population (Kahn et al, 2013). The two-choice tank had three compartments: a central one (49 × 20 × 22 cm) for the test female, and two end sections for males (each 7 × 20 × 22 cm).…”

Section: Female Immune Responsementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In wild populations, adult male body size is highly variable despite minimal post-maturation growth (Kahn, Mautz, & Jennions, 2010). In general, larger males have higher insemination success per mating attempt (Head, Vega-Trejo, Jacomb, & Jennions, 2015, but see Pilastro, Giacomello, & Bisazza, 1997) and females prefer to associate with larger males (Bisazza, Vaccari, & Pilastro, 2001;Kahn et al, 2010). This might indicate that females associate and copulate with larger males because they impose lower costs than smaller males which harass, and attempt to copulate with, females more (Bisazza & Marin, 1995;Hughes, 1985;Pilastro et al, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An experimental test for body size‐dependent effects of male harassment and an elevated copulation rate on female lifetime fecundity and offspring performance

Iglesias‐Carrasco

Fox

Vega‐Trejo

et al. 2019

J of Evolutionary Biology

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Many studies investigate the benefits of polyandry, but repeated interactions with males can lower female reproductive success. Interacting with males might even decrease offspring performance if it reduces a female's ability to transfer maternal resources. Male presence can be detrimental for females in two ways: by forcing females to mate at a higher rate and through costs associated with resisting male mating attempts. Teasing apart the relative costs of elevated mating rates from those of greater male harassment is critical to understand the evolution of mating strategies. Furthermore, it is important to test whether a male's phenotype, notably body size, has differential effects on female reproductive success versus the performance of offspring, and whether this is due to male body size affecting the costs of harassment or the actual mating rate. In the eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki, males vary greatly in body size and continually attempt to inseminate females. We experimentally manipulated male presence (i.e., harassment), male body size and whether males could copulate. Exposure to males had strong detrimental effects on female reproductive output, growth and immune response, independent of male size or whether males could copulate. In contrast, there was a little evidence of a cross‐generational effect of male harassment or mating rate on offspring performance. Our results suggest that females housed with males pay direct costs due to reduced condition and offspring production and that these costs are not a consequence of increased mating rates. Furthermore, exposure to males does not affect offspring reproductive traits.

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“…In such systems females can exert choice by varying the extent to which they resist mating attempts, or by simply spending more time in proximity to some males versus others [34–36]. Indeed, evidence thus far suggests that females play an important role in male choice in both displaying and in coercive systems [37]. In both cases a key indicator is which males the females choose to associate with.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sympatry Predicts Spot Pigmentation Patterns and Female Association Behavior in the Livebearing Fish Poeciliopsis baenschi

et al. 2017

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In this study, we explored the possibility that differences in pigmentation patterns among populations of the fish Poeciliopsis baenschi were associated with the presence or absence of the closely related species P. turneri. If reproductive character displacement is responsible, spotting patterns in these two species should diverge in sympatry, but not allopatry. We predicted that female P. baenschi from sympatric sites should show a preference for associating with conspecifics vs. heterospecific males, but females from allopatric sites should show no such preferences. To evaluate these predictions, we compared spotting patterns and female association behaviors in populations of P. baenschi from Central Mexico. We found that both of our predictions were supported. Poeciliopsis baenschi that co-occured with P. turneri had spotting patterns significantly different than their counterparts from allopatric sites. Using a simultaneous choice test of video presentations of males, we also found that female P. baenschi from populations that co-occured with P. turneri spent significantly more time with males of their own species than with P. turneri males. In contrast, females from allopatric populations of P. baenschi showed no differences in the amount of time they spent with either conspecific or heterospecific males. Together, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that reproductive character displacement may be responsible for behavioral and spotting pattern differences in these populations of P. baenschi.

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Predictors of male insemination success in the mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)

Cited by 32 publications

References 67 publications

Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?

Are sexually selected traits affected by a poor environment early in life?

An experimental test for body size‐dependent effects of male harassment and an elevated copulation rate on female lifetime fecundity and offspring performance

Sympatry Predicts Spot Pigmentation Patterns and Female Association Behavior in the Livebearing Fish Poeciliopsis baenschi

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