Conspecific mate recognition in swordtails, Xiphophorus nigrensis and X. pygmaeus (Poeciliidae): olfactory and visual cues

Caprona, M.-Dominique Crapon de; Ryan, Michael J.

doi:10.1016/s0003-3472(05)80873-5

Cited by 105 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…These cues may lead to a preference for heterospecifics, as females prefer the large-bodied heterospecifics (Ryan & Wagner, 1987) and some heterospecifics are heteromorphic for bars. Females then have to use additional specific cues in mate choice, such as chemical cues, to prevent hybridisation (Crapon de Caprona & Ryan, 1990).…”

Section: (3) Species Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of multiple cues in mate choice

2003

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An increasing number of studies find females to base their mate choice on several cues. Why this occurs is debated and many different hypotheses have been proposed. Here I review the hypotheses and the evidence in favour of them. At the same time I provide a new categorisation based on the adaptiveness of the preferences and the information content of the cues. A few comparative and empirical studies suggest that most multiple cues are Fisherian attractiveness cues or uninformative cues that occur alongside a viability indicator and facilitate detection, improve signal reception, or are remnants from past selection pressures. However, much evidence exists for multiple cues providing additional information and serving as multiple messages that either indicate general mate quality or enable females that differ in mate preferences to choose the most suitable male. Less evidence exists for multiple cues serving as back-up signals. The importance of receiver psychology, multiple sensory environments and signal interaction in the evolution of multiple cues and preferences has received surprisingly little attention but may be of crucial importance. Similarly, sexual conflict has been proposed to result in maladaptive preferences for manipulative cues, and in neutral preferences for threshold cues, but no reliable evidence exists so far. An important factor in the evolution of multiple preferences is the cost of using additional cues. Most theoretical work assumes that the cost of choice increases with the number of cues used, which restricts the conditions under which preferences for multiple cues are expected to evolve. I suggest that in contrast to this expectation, the use of multiple cues can reduce mate choice costs by decreasing the number of mates inspected more closely or the time and energy spent inspecting a set of mates. This may be one explanation for why multiple cues are more common than usually expected. Finally I discuss the consequences that the use of multiple cues may have for the process of sexual selection, the maintenance of genetic variation, and speciation.

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Section: (3) Species Recognitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The use of multiple cues in mate choice

2003

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“…Multiple sources of information can be important for species-recognition, as shared ancestry and selective pressures can result in particular traits being important for mate choice across species (Pfennig, 1998;Candolin, 2003). For example, size is an important trait for mate choice in several swordtail species (Xiphophorus phygmaeus and X. nigrensis), but olfactory cues guide species-recognition (Crapon de Caprona and Ryan, 1990;Hankison and Morris, 2003). Across animal taxa, complex sexual signals that mediate species-recognition are particularly important for closely related sympatric species (Gerhardt, 1994;Höbel and Gerhardt, 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Across animal taxa, complex sexual signals that mediate species-recognition are particularly important for closely related sympatric species (Gerhardt, 1994;Höbel and Gerhardt, 2003). However, even partial overlap in the traits involved in mate search and choice can result in potentially lower fitness through reproductive interference (Crapon de Caprona and Ryan, 1990;Gröning and Hochkirch, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence for partial overlap of male olfactory cues in lampreys

Buchinger

Huertas

et al. 2016

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Animals rely on a mosaic of complex information to find and evaluate mates. Pheromones, often consisting of multiple components, are considered to be particularly important for species-recognition in many species. Although the evolution of species-specific pheromone blends is well described in many insects, very few vertebrate pheromones have been studied in a macro-evolutionary context. Here, we report a phylogenetic comparison of multi-component male odours that guide reproduction in lampreys. Chemical profiling of sexually mature males from eleven species of lamprey, representing six of ten genera and two of three families, indicated that the chemical profiles of sexually mature male odours are partially shared among species. Behavioural assays conducted with four species sympatric in the Laurentian Great Lakes indicated asymmetric female responses to heterospecific odours, where Petromyzon marinus were attracted to male odour collected from all species tested, but other species generally preferred only the odour of conspecifics. Electro-olfactogram recordings from P. marinus indicated that although P. marinus exhibited behavioural responses to odours from males of all species, at least some of the compounds that elicited olfactory responses were different in conspecific male odours compared with heterospecific male odours. We conclude that some of the compounds released by sexually mature males are shared among species and elicit olfactory and behavioural responses in P. marinus, and suggest that our results provide evidence for partial overlap of male olfactory cues among lampreys. Further characterization of the chemical identities of odour components is needed to confirm shared pheromones among species.

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“…Association preference for each stimulus in a trial was measured as the time spent by the male in each compartment. Association time is widely used in studies of mate choice in fishes (see Wong, 2004, and references therein) and is the standard measure of mating preferences in poeciliids, including swordtails (Basolo, 1990;Crapon de Caprona and Ryan, 1990;Hankison and Morris, 2002;Kingston et al, 2003;McLennan andRyan, 1997, 1999;Rosenthal et al, 2002). In a closely related species, Xiphophorus nigrensis, association time in laboratory trials is a strong predictor of association in openfield trials and of observed mate choices in the wild (Ryan et al, , 1992.…”

Section: Chemical Preference Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When in sympatry, X. birchmanni hybridizes freely with Xiphophorus malinche , a closely related swordtail (Morris et al, 2001;Rauchenberger et al, 1990), yet there is no evidence of hybridization with the more distantly related platyfish, Xiphophorus variatus. Studies focusing on female choice in a range of swordtail species suggest that chemical signals play an especially prominent role in species recognition and mate choice (Crapon de Caprona and Ryan, 1990;Hankison and Morris, 2003;McLennan andRyan, 1997, 1999). For instance, female swordtails often prefer the visual cues of heterospecifics and yet show robust preferences for conspecific male odor cues (Crapon de Caprona and Hankison and Morris, 2003).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Species recognition by male swordtails via chemical cues

Wong¹,

Fisher²,

Rosenthal³

2005

Behavioral Ecology

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Species recognition can often play a key role in female mating preferences. Far less is known about conspecific mate recognition from the male perspective. In many closely related taxa, females exhibit few obvious visual differences and males might have to attend to chemical cues in mate recognition, a possibility that has rarely been explored in vertebrates. Here, we examine male species recognition via odor cues in the swordtail fish, Xiphophorus birchmanni. In dichotomous choice experiments we first tested whether males respond to female odor cues. We found that males were attracted to conspecific female odor and those of a related allopatric congener, Xiphophorus malinche, over a water control. Males did not, however, respond to the female odor of the more distantly related sympatric platyfish, Xiphophorus variatus. We then gave male X. birchmanni the choice between conspecific and heterospecific female stimuli. Males, in this scenario, significantly preferred the conspecific odor when the alternative was platyfish. However, when offered odor cues of X. malinche, male X. birchmanni actually preferred the heterospecific female cue. The complex array of preferences reported here, previously documented only in females, underscores the need to consider the behavior of both sexes in dictating actual mating outcomes.

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Conspecific mate recognition in swordtails, Xiphophorus nigrensis and X. pygmaeus (Poeciliidae): olfactory and visual cues

Cited by 105 publications

References 17 publications

The use of multiple cues in mate choice

The use of multiple cues in mate choice

Evidence for partial overlap of male olfactory cues in lampreys

Species recognition by male swordtails via chemical cues

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