Plasticity in sexual size dimorphism and Rensch’s rule in Mediterranean blennies (Blenniidae)

Lengkeek, Wouter; Didderen, Karin; Côté, IM; Zee, Els M. van der; Snoek, R. C.; Reynolds, John D.

doi:10.1139/z08-103

Cited by 29 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…In this situation, Rensch's rule is expected to apply because of sexual selection acting strongly on males (Fairbairn and Preziosi 1994;Fairbairn 2005;Lengkeek et al 2008;Walker and McCormick 2009, but see Kraushaar and Blanckenhorn 2002;Blanckenhorn et al 2006). In L. callipterus, however, allometry for SSD was negative across populations, inconsistent with Rensch's rule.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Originally, it was thought that interspecifi c allometry for SSD refl ects the genetic response of individual species to selection through evolutionary time (Fairbairn 1997). On the other hand, it is possible that intraspecifi c variation in body size results from phenotypic plasticity, local genetic adaptations (Fairbairn 2005;Pyron et al 2007;Lengkeek et al 2008), or migration to the populations suited for their own phenotypes. In L. callipterus, body size plasticity might be a possible explanation for intraspecifi c allometry for SSD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…male size increases allometrically with female size across populations (i.e. Δsize male >Δsize female ; Fairbairn and Preziosi 1994;Fairbairn 2005;Young 2005;Blanckenhorn et al 2006;Pyron et al 2007;Lengkeek et al 2008; see also Walker and McCormick 2009). This pattern is known When males are the larger sex, a positive allometric relationship between male and female sizes is often found across populations of a single species (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unusual allometry for sexual size dimorphism in a cichlid where males are extremely larger than females

2010

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When males are the larger sex, a positive allometric relationship between male and female sizes is often found across populations of a single species (i.e. Rensch's rule). This pattern is typically explained by a sexual selection pressure on males. Here, we report that the allometric relationship was negative across populations of a shell-brooding cichlid fish Lamprologus callipterus, although males are extremely larger than females. Male L. callipterus collect and defend empty snail shells in each of which a female breeds. We found that, across six populations, male and female sizes are positively correlated with not only sexual and fecundity selection indices, but also with shell sizes. Given their different reproductive behaviours, these correlations mean that males are required to be more powerful, and thus larger, to transport larger shells, while female bodies are reduced to the shell size to enable them to enter the shells. Among the three size selections (sexual selection, fecundity selection and shell size), shell size explained the allometry, suggesting that females are more strongly subject to size selection associated with shell size availability than males. However, the allometry was violated when considering an additional population where size-selection regimes of males differed from that of other populations. Therefore, sexual size allometry will be violated by body size divergence induced by multiple selection regimes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unusual allometry for sexual size dimorphism in a cichlid where males are extremely larger than females

2010

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“…During recent years, intraspecific tests of Rensch's rule using wild (e.g. Kupfer 2007;Lengkeek et al 2008;Herczeg et al 2010;Kelly et al 2013) and domestic animals (Sutter et al 2008;Polák and Frynta 2010;Remeš and Székely 2010;Frynta et al 2012) have started to emerge. However, most of these studies have focused on taxa with male-biased SSD, and in cases where female-biased SSD has been observed, Rensch's rule has not been supported apparently because positive selection on female body size has been found to be stronger than that on male body size (Teder and Tammaru 2005;Herczeg et al 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Andrew meets Rensch: sexual size dimorphism and the inverse of Rensch’s rule in Andrew’s toad (Bufo andrewsi)

2014

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Variation in sexual size dimorphism (SSD) is a widespread phenomenon and is commonly attributed to variation in sex-specific patterns of selection. According to Rensch's rule, SSD increases with increasing body size when males are the larger sex, and decreases when females are the larger sex. Using data from 17 populations of Andrew's toad (Bufo andrewsi), we tested whether the patterns of SSD conform to Rensch's rule. Using field experiments, we also evaluated the hypothesis that sexual selection favours large male body size and that fecundity selection favours large female body size. The results revealed that the degree of SSD increased with increasing mean size in females, consistent with the inverse of Rensch's rule. Although experiments revealed evidence for a large-male mating advantage, selection for large male size was weak at best, and hence unlikely to be an important source of variation in SSD. However, fecundity selection favouring large females was evident, and likely to explain the observed inverse of Rensch's rule. After correcting male and female body size for age differences, the patterns of SSD remained the same, suggesting that the intra- and interpopulational variation in SSD is not driven by sex differences in age structure. Hence, these findings suggest that the strong fecundity selection favouring large females drives the evolution of female-biased SSD in B. andrewsi, providing an explanation for the inverse of Rensch's rule. As such, the study provides an important addition to the small body of literature that uses an intraspecific approach to demonstrate the inverse of Rensch's rule.

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“…In this study, we provide one of the first (also see Lengkeek et al. 2008) intraspecific tests of Rensch’s rule in fish, using data on SSD from 11 (Fig.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rensch’s rule inverted – female‐driven gigantism in nine‐spined stickleback Pungitius pungitius

Herczeg¹,

Gonda

Merilä

2010

Journal of Animal Ecology

108

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Summary1. Allometric scaling of sexual size dimorphism (SSD) with body size is a commonplace occurrence in intraspecific or interspecific comparisons. Typically, SSD increases with body size when males, and decreases when females are the larger sex -a pattern known as Rensch's rule. Intraspecific studies of Rensch's rule in vertebrates are extremely scarce. 2. In an allometric SSD-body size relationship, the sex with the larger body size variation is the driver of size divergence whereas the other sex is following it owing to correlational selection. Hence, one can test which sex is responsible for the observed body size divergence within this framework. 3. Nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) provides an excellent model to study intraspecific variation in SSD owing to the large interpopulation variation in mean body size. Using data on body size variation in 11 nine-spined stickleback populations covering the full known size range of the species, we investigated: (i) whether variation in SSD scales allometrically with mean body size across the populations; (ii) which sex is driving the allometric relationship and (iii) whether the observed pattern is likely to have a genetic component. In addition, we analysed the size dependency of female reproductive output. 4. We found strong support for an inverse of Rensch's rule: level of female-biased SSD increased with increasing mean size while females were the more variable sex. Results from a common garden experiment supported the pattern found in the wild. Females from giant populations had 2-3 times larger reproductive output than normal-sized females. 5. The fact that females were the more variable sex indicates that the evolution of gigantism in nine-spined sticklebacks is driven by females, and the 2-3 times larger reproductive output per clutch of giant vs. normal-sized females suggests fecundity selection to have an important role in it. Our results oppose the commonly held view that males drive the evolution of SSD as a result of sexual selection favouring larger males.

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Plasticity in sexual size dimorphism and Rensch’s rule in Mediterranean blennies (Blenniidae)

Cited by 29 publications

References 22 publications

Unusual allometry for sexual size dimorphism in a cichlid where males are extremely larger than females

Unusual allometry for sexual size dimorphism in a cichlid where males are extremely larger than females

Andrew meets Rensch: sexual size dimorphism and the inverse of Rensch’s rule in Andrew’s toad (Bufo andrewsi)

Rensch’s rule inverted – female‐driven gigantism in nine‐spined stickleback Pungitius pungitius

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