Sperm competition and variation in zebra mating behavior

1990 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
J.R. Ginsberg ◽  
D.I. Rubenstein
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mating Behavior

Mating Behavior of Horseshoe Crabs, Limulus Polyphemus

Behaviour ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 114 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 206-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Jane Brockmann
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Breeding System ◽  
Reproductive System ◽  
Full Moon ◽  
Experimental Manipulation ◽  
Limulus Polyphemus ◽  
Horseshoe Crabs ◽  
Satellite Males

AbstractHorseshoe crabs have an explosive breeding system not unlike that of some frogs and toads. They synchronize nesting to only a few hours each day at the time of the spring new and full-moon high tides. Males search for females as they come to the breeding beaches, grasp them with specially modified claws and cling to them, sometimes for weeks. Females lay several clutches of eggs in the sand and the male fertilizes them externally, the only extant arthropod with such a reproductive system. Unattached males cluster around the nesting couple, pushing on and occasionally displacing attached males. An experimental manipulation demonstrated that satellite males are capable of fertilizing eggs which suggests that sperm competition is the primary explanation for the presence of unattached males on the beach. Like other explosively breeding species, male Limulus search for females, often grabbing inappropriate objects, and satellite males compete for access to females. There is little assortative mating and attached and unattached males do not differ in size. In extreme explosively breeding species like Limulus, selection favors those males that are best able to locate and remain attached to females, and there is little opportunity for female choice or male-male competition.

scholarly journals The baculum affects paternity success of first but not second males in house mouse sperm competition

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lennart Winkler ◽  
Anna K. Lindholm ◽  
Steven A. Ramm ◽  
Andreas Sutter
Keyword(s):  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Sperm Motility ◽  
Fertilization Success ◽  
Male Mating ◽  
Geometric Morphometric ◽  
Selfish Genetic Element ◽  
Mating Order ◽  
Male Mating Behavior ◽  
Paternity Success

AbstractThe vast variation observed in genital morphology is a longstanding puzzle in evolutionary biology. Studies showing that the morphology of the mammalian baculum (penis bone) can covary with a male’s paternity success indicate a potential impact of baculum morphology on male fitness, likely through influencing sperm competition outcomes. We therefore measured the size (measurements of length and width) and shape (geometric morphometric measurements) of the bacula of male house mice used in previously published sperm competition experiments, in which two males mated successively with the same female in staged matings. This enabled us to correlate baculum morphology with sperm competition success, incorporating potential explanatory variables related to copulatory plugs, male mating behavior and a selfish genetic element that influences sperm motility. We found that a wider baculum shaft increased a male’s paternity share when mating first, but not when mating second with a multiply-mating female. Geometric morphometric shape measurements were not clearly associated with fertilization success for either male. We found limited evidence that the effect of baculum morphology on male fertilization success was altered by experimental removal of the copulatory plug. Furthermore, neither genetic differences in sperm motility, nor covariation with male mating behavior mediated the effect of baculum morphology on male fertilization success. Taken together with previous findings, the mating-order effects we found here suggest that baculum-mediated stimulation by the first male might be particularly important for fertilization.

scholarly journals A comparison of two methods to assess audience-induced changes in male mate choice

2012 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 84-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madlen Ziege ◽  
Carmen Hennige-Schulz ◽  
Frauke Muecksch ◽  
David Bierbach ◽  
Ralph Tiedemann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mate Choice ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Mating Preferences ◽  
Poecilia Mexicana ◽  
Audience Effects ◽  
Rival Male ◽  
Focal Male ◽  
Sperm Competition Risk ◽  
Male Mate

Abstract Multidirectional communicative interactions in social networks can have a profound effect on mate choice behavior. Male Atlantic molly Poecilia mexicana exhibit weaker mating preferences when an audience male is presented. This could be a male strategy to reduce sperm competition risk: interacting more equally with different females may be advantageous because rivals might copy mate choice decisions. In line with this hypothesis, a previous study found males to show a strong audience effect when being observed while exercising mate choice, but not when the rival was presented only before the choice tests. Audience effects on mate choice decisions have been quantified in poeciliid fishes using association preference designs, but it remains unknown if patterns found from measuring association times translate into actual mating behavior. Thus, we created five audience treatments simulating different forms of perceived sperm competition risk and determined focal males’ mating preferences by scoring pre-mating (nipping) and mating behavior (gonopodial thrusting). Nipping did not reflect the pattern that was found when association preferences were measured, while a very similar pattern was uncovered in thrusting behavior. The strongest response was observed when the audience could eavesdrop on the focal male’s behavior. A reduction in the strength of focal males’ preferences was also seen after the rival male had an opportunity to mate with the focal male’s preferred mate. In comparison, the reduction of mating preferences in response to an audience was greater when measuring association times than actual mating behavior. While measuring direct sexual interactions between the focal male and both stimulus females not only the male’s motivational state is reflected but also females’ behavior such as avoidance of male sexual harassment.

scholarly journals Effects of two seminal fluid proteins on post-mating behavior in the simultaneously hermaphroditic flatwormMacrostomum lignano

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Weber ◽  
Bahar Patlar ◽  
Steven A. Ramm
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Competitive Ability ◽  
Seminal Fluid ◽  
Genetic Correlations ◽  
Complex Mixture ◽  
Mating Frequency ◽  
Seminal Fluid Proteins ◽  
Knock Down

AbstractAlong with sperm, in many taxa male ejaculates also contain a complex mixture of proteins, peptides and other substances found in seminal fluid. Once seminal fluid proteins (SFPs) are transferred to the mating partner, they play crucial roles in mediating post-mating sexual selection, since they can modulate the partner’s behavior and physiology in ways that influence the reproductive success of both partners. One way in which sperm donors can maximize their own reproductive success is by changing the partners’ (sperm recipient’s) postcopulatory behavior to prevent or delay re-mating, thereby decreasing the likelihood or intensity of sperm competition. We therefore adopted a quantitative genetic approach combining gene expression and behavioral data to identify candidates that could mediate such a response in the simultaneously hermaphroditic flatwormMacrostomum lignano. We identified two putative SFPs - Mlig-pro46 and Mlig-pro63 - that exhibit a negative genetic correlation between transcript expression and mating frequency. Importantly, however, in one of the two different group sizes, differing in their sperm competition level, in which we measured genetic correlations, these same two transcripts are also linked to a second post-mating behavior inM. lignano, namely the ‘suck’ behavior of recipients in which, upon ejaculate receipt, the worm places its pharynx over its female genital opening and appears to attempt to remove ejaculate components. To therefore investigate directly whether these two candidates manipulate partner behavior, and test whether this impacts on competitive fertilization success, we performed a manipulative experiment using RNA interference-induced knockdown to ask how loss of Mlig-pro46 and Mlig-pro63 expression, singly and in combination, affects mating frequency, partner suck propensity and both defensive and offensive sperm competitive ability (P1andP2, respectively). None of the knock-down treatments impacted strongly on mating frequency or sperm competitive ability, but the knock-down of Mlig-pro63 resulted in a significantly decreased ‘suck’ propensity of mating partners. This suggests that Mlig-pro63 may normally act as a cue in the ejaculate to trigger recipient suck behavior, though the functional and adaptive significance of these two seminal proteins from a donor perspective remains enigmatic.

Effects of delaying intromissions on the male rat's mating behavior.

1970 ◽  
Vol 70 (3, Pt.1) ◽  
pp. 413-416 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernest HaRd ◽  
Knut Larsson
Keyword(s):  
Mating Behavior
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