Alternative male mating tactics in a cichlid, Pelvicachromis pulcher : a comparison of reproductive effort and success

Martin, Elisabeth; Taborsky, Michael

doi:10.1007/s002650050391

Cited by 70 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…& Holzberg 1974); damselfish (Sweatman 1983); Symphodus ocellatus (Taborsky et al 1987); Pelvicachromis pulcher (Martin & Taborsky 1997); N. pulcher (Bergmü ller & Taborsky 2004;Stiver et al 2004)), although, in some cases, these juveniles apparently do not help (see, for example, Gardner et al 2003;Mitchell 2003). Finally, even if breeders are relatives of helpers, within-group competition may, in theory, counteract all or most relatedness benefits leading to groups with effectively unrelated breeders and helpers (West et al 2002).…”

Section: The Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unrelated helpers will not fully compensate for costs imposed on breeders when they pay to stay

Hamilton

Taborsky

2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Unrelated subordinates may invest in costly help to avoid being evicted from groups (the 'pay-to-stay' hypothesis). However, the effectiveness of eviction to enforce help should depend on its being applied accurately and on the costs it imposes on both dominants and subordinates. The relative cost of being evicted is a function of the population frequency of eviction when population growth is limited by density-dependent factors. We describe a stage-structured pay-to-stay model incorporating density-dependent population growth, costly eviction and occasional errors. Breeders demand some amount of help and evict subordinates that do not provide it. Helpers decide on the amount of help they will provide. The threat of eviction alone is sufficient to enforce helping. However, helping will not be favoured if helpers do not impose costs on breeders. The amount of help provided is less than the cost that subordinates impose upon breeders, when any help is provided. Thus, the net fitness effect of a helper under pay-to-stay alone is negative, even if it is investing in cooperative behaviour. Constraints on dispersal have no effect on the amount of help, although they may influence the tolerance threshold of breeders and group stability, depending on the mechanism of density dependence.

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Section: The Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unrelated helpers will not fully compensate for costs imposed on breeders when they pay to stay

Hamilton

Taborsky

2005

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…Additionally, each behavior has associated with it differences in costs and/or benefits. Alternative reproductive behaviors occur in a wide variety of taxa and, when referring to particular aspects of the mating behavior, are commonly termed alternative mating tactics (AMTs- Waltz and Wolf, 1984;Taborsky, 1994;Cook et al, 1997;Martin and Taborsky, 1997; but see Dominey, 1984). Each alternative may represent a fixed tactic during an individual's lifetime or may be employed by the same individual at different times.…”

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confidence: 99%

Male Dominance Hierarchy and Mating Tactics in the Rock Shrimp Rhynchocinetes Typus (Decapoda: Caridea)

Correa

Hinojosa

Thiel

et al. 2003

Journal of Crustacean Biology

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A B S T R A C TDuring ontogeny, male rock shrimp Rhynchocinetes typus develop from the typus morphotype through several intermedius stages to the robustus morphotype, the last molt stage, which features powerful third maxillipeds and chelae. In a competition-free environment, all male stages mate in a similar manner. They guard females for 23 min to 3 h and perform several behaviors before and after they transfer spermatophores. In the present study, we observed the mating behavior of three different ontogenetic stages of male rock shrimp in a competitive environment in which the three different male stages competed directly for access to receptive females. In the first set of experiments, two males of different ontogenetic stages were placed together with a receptive female. The results indicated the existence of a linear dominance hierarchy, being robustus . intermedius . typus. In the second experiment, we examined the behavior of subordinate males while two dominant-stage males competed for a receptive female. During agonistic displays of the two dominant-stage males, the female escaped from the embrace of her (dominant) mating partner.

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“…Females spawn with these helper males even when the harem owner is in the territory. The reproductive success of dominant helpers was as high as that of pair males (Martin and Taborsky 1997). In contrast, in two other cooperatively breeding cichlids, there is evidence that male breeders cannot fully control egg fertilisation by male helpers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 87%

“…red-cockaded woodpeckers, Picoides borealis, Haig et al 1994; bell miners, Manorina melanophrys, Conrad et al, 1998; white-fronted bee-eaters, Merops bullockoides, Wrege and Emlen 1987;bushtits, Psaltriparus minimus, Bruce et al 1996; laughing kookaburras, Dacelo novaeguineae, Legge and Cockburn 2000). This suggests that in cooperative breeders, within-group competition for reproduction may be less important in birds than in fish (Taborsky 1985;Martin and Taborsky 1997;Kohler 1998;Dierkes et al 1999, this study) and perhaps also in mammals (Rood 1990;O'Riain et al 2000;Clutton-Brock et al 2006;Young et al 2006). One reason for this difference may be the fact that relatedness levels are usually much higher in the family groups of cooperatively breeding birds and mammals than in cooperatively breeding fish, which may limit the payoffs of intragroup extra-pair fertilisations in the former taxa due to the risk of inbreeding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Multiple paternity in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher

Dierkes

Taborsky

Achmann

2008

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In cooperative breeders, mature males may compete for fertilizations. In this study, we measured the degree of multiple paternity in a natural population of a cooperatively breeding fish. Neolamprologus pulcher (Perciformes: Cichlidae) is a highly social cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. We used highly variable microsatellite loci to survey 12 groups with an average number of 10.6 brood care helpers per group and a total of 43 offspring (mean 3.6 per brood). In 11 of 12 groups, all young were assigned to the dominant female. The dominant male sired all offspring in three groups, part of the offspring in four groups, and in five groups, he had no paternity at all. In total, 44.2% of young were not fathered by the current male territory owner. Multiple paternity was found in 5 of 12 broods (41.7 %), with 8 of 35 young (22.9 %) being sired by males other than the respective territory owners. This is an exceptionally high rate of extra-pair paternity among cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Neither helpers present in these territories during collection nor neighbouring males were unequivocally assigned to have sired these extra-pair young. However, behavioural observations suggest that male helpers may have produced these young before being expelled from the territory in response to this reproductive parasitism. We discuss these results in the light of reproductive skew theory, cooperative breeding in vertebrates and alternative reproductive tactics in fish.

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Alternative male mating tactics in a cichlid, Pelvicachromis pulcher : a comparison of reproductive effort and success

Cited by 70 publications

References 30 publications

Unrelated helpers will not fully compensate for costs imposed on breeders when they pay to stay

Unrelated helpers will not fully compensate for costs imposed on breeders when they pay to stay

Male Dominance Hierarchy and Mating Tactics in the Rock Shrimp Rhynchocinetes Typus (Decapoda: Caridea)

Multiple paternity in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher

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