Poeciliid male mate preference is influenced by female size but not by fecundity

Abstract

While female mate preference is very well studied, male preference has only recently begun to receive significant attention. Its existence is found in numerous taxa, but empirical research has mostly been limited to a descriptive level and does not fully address the factors influencing its evolution. We attempted to address this issue using preference functions by comparing the strength of male preference for females of different sizes in nine populations of four poeciliid species. Due to environmental constraints (water toxicity and surface versus cave habitat), females from these populations vary in the degree to which their size is correlated to their fecundity. Hence, they vary in how their size signals their quality as mates. Since female size is strongly correlated with fecundity in this subfamily, males were sequentially presented with conspecific females of three different size categories and the strength of their preference for each was measured. Males preferred larger females in all populations, as predicted. However, the degree to which males preferred each size category, as measured by association time, was not correlated with its fecundity. In addition, cave males discriminated against smaller females more than surface males. Assuming that male preference is correlated with female fitness, these results suggest that factors other than fecundity have a strong influence on female fitness in these species.

Male mate choice in livebearing fishes: an overview

“…In other words, the slope of the regression line describing the relationship between fecundity and size is not the same for all species. How this might influence the evolution and potentially the strength of male preference is not well understood ( Arriaga and Schlupp 2013 ). In addition, this relationship of fecundity and size can be confounded by superfetation ( Pollux and Reznick 2011 ), which evolved several times independently within the family.…”

Size‐dependent mating preference of the male fiddler crab Austruca perplexa

“…This finding supports the previous findings of Tina et al () and Tina (), who observed that large Austruca bengali and A. perplexa males waved more rapidly towards large females than towards small females. Not only male fiddler crabs but also males from several other animal species like isopods, zebra finch, spotted hyenas, garter snakes and poeciliid fish demonstrate a preference for large or highly fecund females over small or less fecund females (Arriaga & Schlupp, ; Jones, Monaghan, & Nager, ; Shine et al, ; Shuster, ; Szykman et al, ). Generally, large female fiddler crabs produce more eggs (Callander et al, ; Goshima et al, ; Reading & Backwell, ) and the reasons for higher fecundity in large females could be that they have greater body resources to maintain higher fecundity or a greater internal volume for amassing a larger number of eggs than small females (Callander et al, ).…”

“…This finding supports the previous findings of Tina et al (2018a) and Tina (2019), who observed that large Austruca bengali and A. perplexa males waved more rapidly towards large females than towards small females. Not only male fiddler crabs but also males from several other animal species like isopods, zebra finch, spotted hyenas, garter snakes and poeciliid fish demonstrate a preference for large or highly fecund females over small or less fecund females (Arriaga & Schlupp, 2013;Jones, Monaghan, & Nager, 2001;Shine et al, 2003;Shuster, 1981;Szykman et al, 2001).…”

Sexually selected sexual selection: Can evolutionary retribution explain female ornamental colour?

“…Females have a generally lacklustre, uniform colouration, and in species where they are not drab, their colour patterns are duller versions of those of their colourful males (Endler, 1983). In a few species, it has been shown that males are attracted to larger females (Arriaga & Schlupp, 2013), presumably because their size may reflect fecundity (Herdman, Kelly, & Godin, 2004), but no instances of male mating preferences for colourful females have been documented among the poeciliids. Conversely, female mating preferences among the goodeids cannot be circumvented; thus, males rely on courtship and ornamentation to secure copulations (Macías Garcia & Saborío, 2004;Ritchie, Webb, Graves, Magurran, & Macias Garcia, 2005).…”