A1 Vertaisarvioitu alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä lehdessä

Relatively large males lower reproductive success in female zebrafish




TekijätUusi-Heikkilä S., Bierbach D., Alós J., Tscheligi P., Wolter C., Arlinghaus R.

KustantajaSpringer Netherlands

Julkaisuvuosi2018

JournalEnvironmental Biology of Fishes

Tietokannassa oleva lehden nimiEnvironmental Biology of Fishes

Vuosikerta101

Numero11

Aloitussivu1625

Lopetussivu1638

Sivujen määrä14

ISSN0378-1909

eISSN1573-5133

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-018-0808-1

Verkko-osoitehttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10641-018-0808-1


Tiivistelmä

Females can adjust their reproductive effort in relation to their partner’s perceived fitness value. In zebrafish (Danio rerio), large males are typically preferred mating partners. However, females have been observed to reduce their reproductive output with exceptionally large males but it remains unknown whether it is due to sexual harassment or aggressive behavior to establish and maintain dominance. Here, we study the association between relative male size, sexual harassment and dominance behavior, female stress status (stress behaviors and whole-body cortisol concentration), and reproductive success during a 4 day spawning trial. We found female cortisol to correlate negatively with female body size and positively with female dominance behavior. However, male and female behavior as well as female cortisol level were not related to relative male size. Females mating with relatively large males produced more and most of their eggs during the first spawning day, while females with smaller males produced few eggs during the first day but then increased egg production. Despite females produced more eggs when mating with relatively larger males, their eggs had substantially lower fertilization rates compared to females mating with relatively smaller males. Hence, overall, the reproductive fitness was lowest when females mated with a relatively large male. These findings could help to explain the maintenance of male size variation under natural conditions



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 20:45