Mate removal leads to increase in parental defence behaviour in free-ranging convict cichlids

Breukelen, Natalie April van; Itzkowitz, Murray

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.07.036

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…Our data did not support this prediction. Single females spent significantly less time near a conspecific male intruder than single males or intact pairs and thus appear to be slightly more deficient in that aspect of their care, which is supported by experiments with wild fish in Costa Rica (van Breukelen & Itzkowitz ). This same significant deficiency was seen in the number of aggressive behaviors directed at the intruder.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

“…We also hypothesized an asymmetrical role expansion, with females better compensating for their absent mates. Single males have been previously shown to increase levels of aggression more so than single females (van Breukelen & Itzkowitz ), but in the current study, single parents also had to deal with the displaced offspring, and we predicted that females would be better than males at adjusting to dealing with multiple behaviors, as they have previously been shown to be more flexible in their role expansion, at least when part of an intact pair, assisting their partners with defensive aggression (Itzkowitz et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Essentially, the widowed male appears more female‐like, while the female remained unchanged. Additionally, examination of convict cichlids in the field in Costa Rica revealed that males whose female mate has been removed increase their parental defense to fully compensate for their missing partner, but a widowed female does not (or cannot) exhibit increased defense behaviors compensatory to her lost mate (van Breukelen & Itzkowitz ). In this study, we provide a more clear distinction of role selection by requiring the offspring care to consist of a complex activity unrelated to defense against intruders: offspring retrieval (Snekser & Itzkowitz ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While there are several factors that likely contribute to this sex difference in single‐parenting (e.g., availability of new mates, hormonal differences, or inability to re‐pair), it seems unlikely that widowed males in nature lose their offspring from inadequate care rather than from their own abandonment. van Breukelen & Itzkowitz () showed that males are able to compensate for their lost mate in terms of aggressive defense. This previous field study did not take into account other parental activities that contribute to offspring success, such as the direct retrieval behavior we examine here.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Contrasting Parental Tasks Influence Parental Roles for Paired and Single Biparental Cichlid Fish

Snekser¹,

Itzkowitz

2014

Ethology

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Biparental care of young occurs when both parents provide some sort of care for offspring and can include a wide variety of behaviors, yet often studies focus on single aspects of parental care when trying to determine how each parent contributes. Here, we presented the biparental convict cichlid fish (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) with two conflicting parental behaviors: retrieval of non-swimming offspring that have been displaced from the nest and defense against a conspecific intruder, a potential brood predator. We examined single males, single females, and pairs of parents to determine how males and females each contributed to overall parental care. Traditionally in this species, parents exhibit a division of labor (in which each parent contributes to all parental activities), but also exhibit a division of roles (in which males tend to favor the role of defense and females tend to favor more direct care, spending more time with offspring). We hypothesized that single parents would compensate for their absent mate, but that males and females would still favor preferred roles. Additionally, we hypothesized that there would be an asymmetrical expansion of roles, with females being more flexible. Our results show that the preferred roles of both parents were evident even when parents were without their mates and that males and females differed in their compensatory levels, at least when compared to the behaviors of the intact pair. Contrary to our prediction, females seem unable to fully compensate for the defensive behaviors usually exhibited by males, while males shifted completely to retrieve displaced offspring.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 72%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Contrasting Parental Tasks Influence Parental Roles for Paired and Single Biparental Cichlid Fish

Snekser¹,

Itzkowitz

2014

Ethology

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“…Empirical studies have altered partner effort either through the removal of one parent (e.g. Snoeijs et al, 2005;Smiseth et al, 2005;van Breukelen and Itzkowitz, 2011) or through the manipulation of effort exerted by one parent (e.g. Wright and Cuthill, 1989, 1990a, 1990bSanz et al, 2000;Tajima and Nakamura, 2003;Wiebe, 2010;Leclaire et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific patterns of minimal compensation of care during and after short term mate removal in biparental blue tits

Mainwaring

Hartley

2020

Behavioural Processes

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Early theoretical models predicted that over evolutionary timescales, changes in effort by one biparental parent should result in incomplete compensation by the other. Empirical studies, however, report responses ranging from no compensation through to complete compensation which may mean that parents respond to each other's efforts over short time scales, as predicted by some recent theoretical models. Few studies have examined behavioural changes over short time periods which mimic the onset of reduced effort so we removed one blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) parent for 20 min during nestling provisioning. We then quantified the provisioning rates of both parents for 60 min 'pre-removal', the non-removed partner during the 20 min 'removal' period and both parents for 60 min 'post-removal'. When compared to pre-removal, both sexes reduced their provisioning rates during the removal stage and also during the post-removal stage. There were, however, sexspecific provisioning patterns in the hour after the parent was returned because after females were released, males began provisioning at a relatively high rate and then maintained that rate across the hour after removal whereas after males were released, females began provisioning at a low rate but significantly increased thereafter. There was no long term effect on offspring fitness, which probably reflects the short time parents were removed and so we conclude that parents with biparental care adjust their provisioning rates to successfully overcome very short term decreases in care.

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Interactions between native and non-native cichlid species in a Costa Rican river

Breukelen

2014

Environ Biol Fish

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Mate removal leads to increase in parental defence behaviour in free-ranging convict cichlids

Cited by 15 publications

References 23 publications

Contrasting Parental Tasks Influence Parental Roles for Paired and Single Biparental Cichlid Fish

Contrasting Parental Tasks Influence Parental Roles for Paired and Single Biparental Cichlid Fish

Sex-specific patterns of minimal compensation of care during and after short term mate removal in biparental blue tits

Interactions between native and non-native cichlid species in a Costa Rican river

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