To eat or not to eat: egg-based assessment of paternity triggers fine-tuned decisions about filial cannibalism

Mehlis, Marion; Bakker, Theo C. M.; Engqvist, Leif; Frommen, Joachim G.

doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.0234

Cited by 58 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…This is in contrast with, for example, three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus , where smaller males were more reluctant to attack intruders [33]. However, other studies have found, like us, that smaller males can be more aggressive.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

A High Aggression Strategy for Smaller Males

2012

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Male-male conflict is common among animals, but questions remain as to when, how and by whom aggression should be initiated. Factors that affect agonistic strategies include residency, the value of the contested resource and the fighting ability of the two contestants. We quantified initiation of aggression in a fish, the desert goby, Chlamydogobius eremius, by exposing nest-holding males to a male intruder. The perceived value of the resource (the nest) was manipulated by exposing half of the residents to sexually receptive females for two days before the trial. Resident male aggression, however, was unaffected by perceived mating opportunities. It was also unaffected by the absolute and relative size of the intruder. Instead resident aggression was negatively related to resident male size. In particular, smaller residents attacked sooner and with greater intensity compared to larger residents. These results suggest that resident desert goby males used set, rather than conditional, strategies for initiating aggression. If intruders are more likely to flee than retaliate, small males may benefit from attacking intruders before these have had an opportunity to assess the resident and/or the resource.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 96%

A High Aggression Strategy for Smaller Males

2012

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“…Kin recognition, the capacity for distinguishing kin from non-kin using genetic similarity or any cue that is correlated with kinship (HOLMES 2004), has been evidenced in several animal species, both vertebrate (SHARP et al 2005;KRUCZEK 2007;MOORE 2007;SHERBORNE et al 2007;GREEN et al 2008;MEHLIS et al 2010) and invertebrate (LIZÉ et al 2006;PATTERSON et al 2008;SCHNEIDER & BILDE 2008;DE NARDIN & ARAÚJO 2011), in plants (DUDLEY & FILE 2007) and also in mycetozoa (MEHDIABADI et al 2006(MEHDIABADI et al , 2009OSTROWSKI et al 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

An experimental approach to test the source of information on kinship in butterfly immatures

Nardin

Missaggia

Araújo

2014

Ethology Ecology & Evolution

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This study focuses on a non-social species of butterfly of the Neotropical genus Heliconius, H. erato phyllis, where caterpillar-egg cannibalism may occur. In this species, newly hatched caterpillars are able to recognize sibling eggs, preferentially cannibalizing unrelated when there is a choice. The purpose of this study was to verify whether the information to recognize the egg as sibling or non-kin is in the chorion (maternal origin) and/or in the embryo/young caterpillar, by performing both caterpillar-egg and caterpillar-caterpillar cannibalism tests. The results of these tests suggest that the signal evaluated to recognize kinship is in the egg chorion, not in the caterpillar itself. We discuss these findings in the light of possible nutritional gain and the opportunity of encounters of immatures in a non-social butterfly.

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“…From the female's point of view, it is therefore best to choose a male that provides care without cannibalizing any, or as few as possible, of her eggs. Although other factors, such as mate availability, paternity and nutritional status may also influence whether eggguarding males show filial cannibalism (e.g., Mehlis et al 2009Mehlis et al , 2010Myint et al 2011), our main focus here is on the effects of brood size.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Filial cannibalism in a nest-guarding fish: females prefer to spawn in nests with few eggs over many

Andrén

Kvarnemo

2014

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In fish, fecundity correlates with female body size and egg-tending males often eat small broods. Therefore, small females may prefer to spawn in nests that already contain many eggs, to ensure the brood is as large as possible.In contrast, large females may prefer nests with few eggs, if high egg number or density has a negative effect on egg survival, or if there are drawbacks of spawning last in a nest. To test the hypothesis that female body size affects nest (and male mate) choice, using the sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus), we allowed small and large females to choose between two males that were matched in size -one guarding a small clutch and the other a large clutch, respectively. We recorded where females spawned (measure of female preference), the combined brood size, male courtship, egg care and nest building. We also quantified the effect of brood size and egg density on egg survival in a separate data set. Although the combined broods did not exceed the small brood sizes that are at risk of being eaten, both small and large females preferred to spawn in nests with smaller clutch sizes. This preference could not be explained by more courtship or male parental effort, nor by reduced survival of larger or denser broods. Instead, our result might be explained by females avoiding the danger of cannibalism of young eggs by males or the risk of reduced egg health associated with being near the nest periphery.

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To eat or not to eat: egg-based assessment of paternity triggers fine-tuned decisions about filial cannibalism

Cited by 58 publications

References 66 publications

A High Aggression Strategy for Smaller Males

A High Aggression Strategy for Smaller Males

An experimental approach to test the source of information on kinship in butterfly immatures

Filial cannibalism in a nest-guarding fish: females prefer to spawn in nests with few eggs over many

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