What do male tench, Tinca tinca, advertise with morphological ornaments? |
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Authors: | Anssi Vainikka Raine Kortet Satu Paukku Markus J Rantala Juhani Pirhonen |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyv?skyl?, P.O. Box 35 (YAC341), 40014, Jyv?skyl?, Finland 2. Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior, University of California, Davis, CA, USA 3. Department of Biology, University of Turku, Turku, Finland
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Abstract: | In contrast to females, tench Tinca tinca (L.) males have large pelvic fins with a thickened and bent second fin ray. Males also produce notable ventral protuberances
during breeding, but the function of these male ornaments is not known. Using wild-caught fish, we found that both the size
of pelvic fins and ventral protuberance were dependent on body mass/length ratio but not necessarily on condition. Plasma
testosterone concentration and relative gonad mass were positively correlated with condition factor. Plasma testosterone concentration
was not related to measures of non-specific immune function, but correlated positively with the size of pelvic fins corrected
for body length. However, the studied male ornaments were not related to the measures of immune defence or to the load of
Diplostomum spp. We did not find evidence for male–male dominance or female preference for large male characteristics within the natural
variation in these traits. Thus, our study suggests that also other mechanisms than sexual selection on good genes might contribute
to the maintenance of sexual dimorphism in tench. |
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Keywords: | Cyprinid Immune function Testosterone Sexual selection Sex recognition |
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