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The Ryukyu-Taiwan region is an island arch with intervening waters of varying distances and depths. This study examines the geographic genetic structure of two sympatric sea kraits, Laticauda laticaudata and L. semifasciata, in the region, to infer factors affecting the extent of dispersal and other biogeographical traits of these amphibious reptiles. Sequence analyses of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene revealed four and 16 haplotypes for L. laticaudata (136 individuals) and L. semifasciata (177 individuals), respectively. For both species, population pairwise F ST analyses revealed significant genetic differentiations among islands and island groups, which are separated by deep straits, suggesting that deep waters serve as obstacles for dispersal in both species. Significant genetic differentiation was detected even among islands of the same basin in L. laticaudata, but not in L. semifasciata, and the isolation by distance analyses revealed no significant correlation between geographic and genetic distances in the former species. These results further suggest that L. laticaudata has stronger site fidelity or degree of philopatry than L. semifasciata. Based on the geographic genetic patterns, the historical biogeography of the two species in the Ryukyu-Taiwan region is also discussed.

Background Endurance rivalry and female choice are two important mechanisms of sexual selection in lek-breeding species. Endurance rivalry is when males compete for opportunities to mate by spending more time in leks than others (interaction-independent male-male competition). Because high-quality males can afford to have high lek attendance, females have a higher chance of mating with good-quality males even when they mate randomly. The good gene hypothesis proposes that females can pass good genes on to their offspring by choosing males that display elaborate morphological and/or behavioral traits that reflect the males’ genetic quality. The relative importance of lek attendance and female choice to males’ mating success in anurans is rarely evaluated. In this study, we investigated how these two mechanisms might jointly shape males’ morphological traits in the lek-chorusing emerald treefrog Zhangixalus prasinatus. Results Our results show that (1) male lek attendance is positively correlated with body size and condition, and males with higher lek attendance have higher mating success, (2) the dominant frequency of males’ advertisement calls are negatively correlated with body size and males producing lower frequency calls have higher mating success, (3) male body size, but not body condition, has a non-significant positive relationship with mating success and (4) females show preference for calls with lower dominant frequencies in two-choice playback. Conclusions Overall, both endurance rivalry and female choice play an important role in the mating success of male emerald treefrogs in the field and both are influenced by male body size/condition. By mating with males that have higher lek attendance and produce lower frequency calls, selection may indirectly favor larger males.

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