Handling does not affect reproductive signals of male threespine stickleback

Laurin, André Y.; Scott, Robert J.

doi:10.1007/s10641-009-9467-6

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…Fish producing a red mating signal, such as male threespine stickleback, may respond plastically to variability in ambient light by adjusting carotenoid pigment deposition or by altering the distribution of melanin. Though Laurin and Scott (2009) showed that the male threespine stickleback nuptial signal is relatively stable for up to 20 minutes following transfer to artificial lighting, the present study demonstrates that the threespine stickleback nuptial signal will respond to lighting changes in as little as one day.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

Plasticity of threespine stickleback nuptial signals: laboratory manipulation of ambient light causes a shift in male reflectance patterns

Scott

2022

Preprint

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I caught courting male threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Hotel Lake, BC, Canada, and transferred them to one of three experimental lighting environments. Male signal reflectance was measured upon capture from the lake, at one-day post transfer to the experimental light, and at onset of courtship behaviour under artificial light. Male signals responded rapidly to the change in lighting environment following transfer from the wild to the artificial lighting environments and in different ways dependent upon the artificial light composition. Males under red-shifted light had higher signal reflectance in the short wavelength range of the spectrum and less reflectance in the medium and long wavelength range of the spectrum relative to the males in blue-green shifted and full-spectrum lighting. Given the relative prominence of the male stickleback nuptial signal in the behavioural ecology literature, the increasing evidence for the signal’s ambient light dependent expression, and the large body of literature based on experiments conducted under artificial light, it would be prudent to repeat some of the classic mate choice experiments under more realistic lighting conditions.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 70%

Plasticity of threespine stickleback nuptial signals: laboratory manipulation of ambient light causes a shift in male reflectance patterns

Scott

2022

Preprint

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Section: Reproductive Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In all photographic sessions, the relative position of both lamps and camera was kept constant and the same person photographed all fish on the same day. The time taken from capturing a male in his original tank to taking the photograph took ,60 s and so would not have influenced the measurement of color patterns (Laurin and Scott 2009). The scores for redness, greenness, and blueness of the red throat color area, defined as described by Barber et al (2000), were obtained from the photographs using the RGB Measure plug-in of the Image J 1.41 software program (available online).…”

Section: Reproductive Investmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

The pattern of early growth trajectories affects adult breeding performance

Lee

Monaghan

Metcalfe

2012

Ecology

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Early environmental conditions can influence the pattern of growth and development. While poor conditions generally cause slower growth, normal adult size can still be reached if growth accelerates or is prolonged once conditions improve, but such catch-up growth may have deleterious effects later in life. Here we investigate for the first time how decelerating as well as accelerating growth trajectories, manipulated independently of food supply, affect subsequent breeding performance. In order to alter growth rates we subjected juvenile three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus to a short period of altered environmental temperature (high, intermediate, or low), after which all fish had the same (intermediate) temperature regime. In addition, the perceived time stress (until the onset of the spawning season) was manipulated by conducting the experiment twice (in the winter and in the spring immediately prior to breeding) and by exposing half of the fish in each experiment to a delayed photoperiod (two months behind ambient). We found that fish showed full growth compensation, such that in all treatments they were of the same average size by the start of the breeding season. However, those compensating for low temperatures earlier in life (i.e., who then showed an accelerated growth trajectory) had reduced reproductive investment over the following two breeding seasons (males, reduced sexual ornaments and speed of building nests; females, reduced first clutch size, mean egg size, and eggs produced per year). Moreover, these deleterious effects were strongest when the perceived time available for growth compensation prior to breeding was shortest. In contrast, those fish with a decelerating growth trajectory as a result of exposure to high temperatures early in life showed an improved breeding performance compared to steadily growing controls. These results clearly demonstrate that both the shape of the growth trajectory (independent of food supply) and the time available for growth compensation have broad-reaching and prolonged effects on breeding performance, with ecological conditions that prompt catch-up growth just prior to the breeding season being especially damaging for both sexes.

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Reflectance characteristics are correlated with male condition in a population of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) that has lost the species typical nuptial signal

Scott

2011

Environ Biol Fish

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Several populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) on the Pacific Coast of North America remain drab during courtship and become melanic during parental care rather than adopt the species typical red signal. Male signal redness is an honest signal of male physiological condition. Here, I test the prediction that reflectance characteristics of drab males also honestly indicate male condition. I located, observed and captured nesting stickleback from Brannen Lake, British Columbia, Canada. I measured reflectance characteristics of each male's signal right after capture and later measured its wet weight and total length to calculate Fulton's condition index, K. Males in better condition, higher K, had lower total reflectance (i.e. were darker) than males in poorer condition. The principals underlying honest signaling appear to be operating despite the possession of a novel nuptial signal in Brannen Lake stickleback.

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Handling does not affect reproductive signals of male threespine stickleback

Cited by 4 publications

References 30 publications

Plasticity of threespine stickleback nuptial signals: laboratory manipulation of ambient light causes a shift in male reflectance patterns

Plasticity of threespine stickleback nuptial signals: laboratory manipulation of ambient light causes a shift in male reflectance patterns

The pattern of early growth trajectories affects adult breeding performance

Reflectance characteristics are correlated with male condition in a population of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) that has lost the species typical nuptial signal

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