Egg mimicry and allopaternal care: two mate-attracting tactics by which nesting striped darter ( Etheostoma virgatum ) males enhance reproductive success

Abstract

offspring, females prefer to spawn in nests that already contain eggs. This female preference has been hypothesized to explain egg thievery in male sticklebacks, allopaternal care of eggs in minnows, and the evolution of eggmimicking body features in male cichlids and darters. Here we employ microsatellite-based parentage analyses to evaluate the reproductive success of striped darter (Etheostoma virgatum) males that appear to utilize two of these functionally related tactics to entice females to spawn in their nests. In an isolated population (Clear Creek, Ky.), we observed that breeding males develop conspicuous white spots on their pectoral fins. If these spots are egg mimics, as we suspect, then this represents the fourth independent evolutionary origin of egg mimicry documented to date in darters, the first based on pigmentation (as opposed to physical structures), and the first in which the egg mimics vary greatly in number among males. From direct counts of microsatellite genotypes in clutches of embryos, at least 3.8 females contributed to the progeny within a typical nest, and females tended to spawn preferentially with males that were larger and displayed more egg-mimic spots. In another population (Hurricane Creek, Tenn.) without egg mimics, the multi-locus genetic data document that allopaternal care is common, especially among the smallest males who sometimes tend nests containing their own as well as an earlier sire's offspring. Thus, these foster males had adopted egg-containing nests and then successfully spawned with subsequent females. Overall, the genetic data on paternity and maternity, in conjunction with field observations, suggest that egg mimicry and allopaternal care are two mate-attracting reproductive tactics employed by striped darter males to exploit female preferences for spawning in nests with 'eggs'.

Antimicrobial egg cleaning by the fringed darter (Perciformes: Percidae:Etheostoma crossopterum): implications of a novel component of parental care in fishes

“…Knapp & Sargent 1989;Porter et al 2002), actual identification of male parental care has been elusive. The results from this study confirm that E. crossopterum males, and presumably other species of Catonotus, provide parental care by reducing the amount of microbial infestation of eggs and consequently increasing egg viability.…”

“…Although several studies have investigated facets of Catonotus reproductive behaviour (Knapp & Sargent 1989;Page & Bart 1989;Lindstrom & Sargent 1997;Page & Knouft 2000;Porter et al 2002), whether Catonotus males actually provide parental care is unclear. Because females prefer to deposit eggs in nests already containing eggs (Knapp & Sargent 1989), males may remain at the nest simply to obtain spawnings with females.…”

Multiple paternity and extra-group fertilizations in a natural population of California grunion (Leuresthes tenuis), a beach-spawning marine fish

“…Fish species, in particular, display a wide array of reproductive tactics and mating behaviors , with male reproductive behavior being especially diverse (Breder and Rosen 1966;Gross and Sargent 1985;Taborsky 1994). The following illustrate just a few such mating behaviors: nest-tending male damselWsh (Gronell 1989) may adopt eggs from other species to appear more desirable to conspeciWc females; similarly, female striped darters preferentially mate with males tending larger nests (even though the eggs may be adopted) or with those displaying egg mimicking pigmentation on their Wns (Porter et al 2002); plainWn midshipman Wsh (Brantley and Bass 1994) use their pectoral Wns to fan their sperm towards a nest guarded by another male; some "bourgeois" bluegill sunWsh males provide oVspring care yet frequently are cuckolded by sneaker or satellite males (NeV 2001); and some Atlantic salmon spawn either as socially dominant males after returning from the sea or as smaller, socially inferior parr that have remained in freshwater (Thomaz et al 1997). In general, such alternative mating tactics by male Wsh fall within one of four strategies: be quicker than rival males in "scramble competition"; cooperate or trade with resource holders for access to mates; exploit the monopolization of resources or mates via reproductive parasitism; or monopolize resources or mates themselves (Taborsky 2001).…”

Investimento parental e papéis sexuais em opiliões com cuidado paternal exclusivo

“…Second, females from several species prefer to copulate with males exhibiting parental behaviors and oviposit in nests already containing eggs (fishes: arthropods: Gilbert et al 2010;. In fact, the evolution of morphological and behavioral male traits, such as egg mimicry, egg thievery, and nest takeovers, has been attributed to female preference for egg-containing nests Porter et al 2002).…”

“…In fishes, females preferentially oviposit inside nests whose male owners exhibit high quality care (e.g. , and mate choice has probably driven the evolution of extremely specialized male traits, such as egg mimicry, egg thievery, and nest takeovers (Porter et al, 2002).…”