A trade-off generated by sexual conflict: Mediterranean wrasse males refuse present mates to increase future success |
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Authors: | Alonzo Suzanne Henson; Warner Robert R |
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Institution: | Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University
of California, Santa Barbara, CA 83106,
USA |
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Abstract: | A variety of mechanisms, including intrasexual competition,intersexual
conflict, and physiological constraints, can explainpatterns of reproduction
and the adaptive value of specificbehaviors. In a Mediterranean wrasse,
Symphodus ocellatus (Labridae),large, nesting males occasionally
refuse to spawn with willingfemales in the presence of small, sneaker males.
We exploredthe possible adaptive significance of this behavior. Nestingmales
refuse females despite the fact that it reduces theirimmediate mating
success. This nesting-male behavior also decreasesfemale and sneaker mating
success and occurs when sneaker malessurround the nest. Experiments that
decreased the number ofsneakers around nests showed that nesting males
respond immediatelyto mating opportunities when fewer sneakers are present,
andthus they are not simply constrained by a lack of energy orlack of sperm.
Experiments that increased the number of sneakersat the nest caused nesting
males initially to refuse spawningopportunities, followed by a subsequent
decrease in sneakerpresence and an increase in mating rate. We propose that
thisbehavior is the result of a trade-off between immediate matingsuccess
and future reproduction created by competition betweenmales and conflict
between the sexes. Males reduce their immediatemating success by reducing
spawning at the nest; sneaker malessubsequently leave, and this
decreases mate competition forthe nesting male. Unresponsiveness of nesting
males also causessexual conflict between females and nesting males over
mating.We argue that this behavior and the existence of a trade-offcan only
be understood by examining intersexual conflict andintrasexual competition
simultaneously. |
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Keywords: | mating systems Mediterranean wrasse reproductive behavior reproductive trade-off sexual conflict Symphodus ocellatus |
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