Coexistence of sperm-dependent asexuals and their sexual hosts: the role of differences in fitness-related traits

Understanding the mechanisms of coexistence of sperm-dependent asexuals and their sexual hosts requires an empirical evaluation of their relative fitness. We evaluated the fecundity, egg viability, and hatchling growth rate of the sperm-dependent asexual hybrid species Phoxinus eos-neogaeus and its sexually-reproducing parental species, P. eos and P. neogaeus. Three comparisons between asexual and sexual Phoxinus suggested a fitness advantage in the asexuals: absolute fecundity was higher in P. eos-neogaeus than P. eos, but this advantage disappeared when fecundity differences were scaled to differences in body size; a higher fraction of P. eos-neogaeus eggs than P. eos eggs were viable post-fertilization; P. eos-neogaeus grew faster in the first 60 days post-hatching than both their P. eos and P. neogaeus hosts. All other comparisons showed no difference in fitness between P. eos-neogaeus and the parental species. Overall, our data suggest, at best, a weak fitness advantage for the asexuals, which suggests that other factors, such as niche separation or male preference for sexually-reproducing females during mating, are critical to the maintenance of asexual-sexual lineages.