| Publication type: | Article in scientific journal |
| Type of review: | Peer review (publication) |
| Title: | Sperm-limited males save ejaculates for future matings when competing with superior rivals |
| Authors: | Schütz, Dolores Tschirren, Linda Pachler, Gudrun Grubbauer, Pia Taborsky, Michael |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016 |
| Published in: | Animal Behaviour |
| Volume(Issue): | 2017 |
| Issue: | 125 |
| Page(s): | 3 |
| Pages to: | 12 |
| Issue Date: | 2017 |
| Publisher / Ed. Institution: | Elsevier |
| ISSN: | 0003-3472 |
| Language: | English |
| Subject (DDC): | 590: Animals (Zoology) |
| Abstract: | Adjusting ejaculates to sperm competition can lead to sperm limitation. Particularly in polygynous species, males may face a trade-off between investing sperm in current or future mating opportunities. The optimal sperm allocation decision should depend on the relative intensity of sperm competition experienced in a mating sequence. Here we asked how males respond to this trade-off in polygynous fish with alternative male mating tactics, intense sperm competition and sperm limitation. Large bourgeois males of the shell-brooding cichlid Lamprologus callipterus build nests consisting of empty snail shells, in which females spawn and raise offspring. During spawning, nest males release ejaculates into the shell opening. Genetically distinct, parasitic dwarf males enter shells during spawning to fertilize the eggs from inside the shell. These dwarf males were previously shown to be superior sperm competitors to nest males. Here we showed that when spawning with several females simultaneously, nest males reduced the spawning duration for each clutch and the number of ejaculations per female tended to decrease, reflecting sperm limitation. Experimental exposure of nest males to sperm competition with dwarf males reduced the number and duration of ejaculations by roughly half. Hence, when exposed to competition with a superior rival, nest males did not increase their sperm expenditure as predicted by sperm competition risk models, but in fact saved sperm for future mating opportunities as predicted by sperm competition intensity theory. This seems to be adaptive because of the considerable sperm demands in this species, which is partly due to their high degree of polygyny. |
| URI: | https://digitalcollection.zhaw.ch/handle/11475/7608 |
| Fulltext version: | Published version |
| License (according to publishing contract): | Licence according to publishing contract |
| Departement: | Life Sciences and Facility Management |
| Organisational Unit: | Institute of Natural Resource Sciences (IUNR) |
| Appears in collections: | Publikationen Life Sciences und Facility Management |
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Schütz, D., Tschirren, L., Pachler, G., Grubbauer, P., & Taborsky, M. (2017). Sperm-limited males save ejaculates for future matings when competing with superior rivals. Animal Behaviour, 2017(125), 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016
Schütz, D. et al. (2017) ‘Sperm-limited males save ejaculates for future matings when competing with superior rivals’, Animal Behaviour, 2017(125), pp. 3–12. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016.
D. Schütz, L. Tschirren, G. Pachler, P. Grubbauer, and M. Taborsky, “Sperm-limited males save ejaculates for future matings when competing with superior rivals,” Animal Behaviour, vol. 2017, no. 125, pp. 3–12, 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016.
SCHÜTZ, Dolores, Linda TSCHIRREN, Gudrun PACHLER, Pia GRUBBAUER und Michael TABORSKY, 2017. Sperm-limited males save ejaculates for future matings when competing with superior rivals. Animal Behaviour. 2017. Bd. 2017, Nr. 125, S. 3–12. DOI 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016
Schütz, Dolores, Linda Tschirren, Gudrun Pachler, Pia Grubbauer, and Michael Taborsky. 2017. “Sperm-Limited Males Save Ejaculates for Future Matings When Competing with Superior Rivals.” Animal Behaviour 2017 (125): 3–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016.
Schütz, Dolores, et al. “Sperm-Limited Males Save Ejaculates for Future Matings When Competing with Superior Rivals.” Animal Behaviour, vol. 2017, no. 125, 2017, pp. 3–12, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.12.016.
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