Differential courtship activity and alterations of reproductive success of competing guppy males (Poecilia reticulata Peters; Pisces: Poeciliidae) as an indicator for low concentrations of aquatic pollutants

1988 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-390 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Horst Schröder ◽  
Karin Peters
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Aquatic Pollutants ◽  
Low Concentrations ◽  
Courtship Activity

scholarly journals Bolder guppies do not have more mating partners, yet sire more offspring

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Magdalena Herdegen-Radwan
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Personality Trait ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Animal Groups ◽  
Fitness Consequences

Abstract Background Intra-individual stable but inter-individually variable behaviours, i.e. personalities, are commonly reported across diverse animal groups, yet the reasons for their maintenance remain controversial. Therefore, studying fitness consequences of personality traits is necessary to discriminate between alternative explanations. Results Here, I measured boldness, a highly repeatable personality trait, and reproductive success in male guppies, Poecilia reticulata. I found that bolder males had higher reproductive success than their shyer conspecifics and they sired offspring with females who had larger clutches. Conclusions This result provides direct evidence for fitness consequences of boldness in the guppy. It suggests that the effect may be driven by bolder males mating with more fecund females.

scholarly journals Psychoactive pollution suppresses individual differences in fish behaviour

2021 ◽  
Vol 288 (1944) ◽  
pp. 20202294
Author(s):  
Giovanni Polverino ◽  
Jake M. Martin ◽  
Michael G. Bertram ◽  
Vrishin R. Soman ◽  
Hung Tan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Environmental Contamination ◽  
Individual Variation ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Fish Behaviour ◽  
Adaptive Potential ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Low Concentrations

Environmental contamination by pharmaceuticals is global, substantially altering crucial behaviours in animals and impacting on their reproduction and survival. A key question is whether the consequences of these pollutants extend beyond mean behavioural changes, restraining differences in behaviour between individuals. In a controlled, two-year, multigenerational experiment with independent mesocosm populations, we exposed guppies ( Poecilia reticulata ) to environmentally realistic levels of the ubiquitous pollutant fluoxetine (Prozac). Fish (unexposed: n = 59, low fluoxetine: n = 57, high fluoxetine: n = 58) were repeatedly assayed on four separate occasions for activity and risk-taking behaviour. Fluoxetine homogenized individuals' activity, with individual variation in populations exposed to even low concentrations falling to less than half that in unexposed populations. To understand the proximate mechanism underlying these changes, we tested the relative contribution of variation within and between individuals to the overall decline in individual variation. We found strong evidence that fluoxetine erodes variation in activity between but not within individuals, revealing the hidden consequences of a ubiquitous contaminant on phenotypic variation in fish—likely to impair adaptive potential to environmental change.

scholarly journals The bold and the sperm: positive association between boldness and sperm number in the guppy

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (7) ◽  
pp. 190474 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clelia Gasparini ◽  
Elizabeth M. Speechley ◽  
Giovanni Polverino
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Personality Traits ◽  
Sperm Competition ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Sperm Number ◽  
Sperm Velocity ◽  
Fitness Consequences ◽  
Competitive Success ◽  
Sperm Traits

Assessing the consequences of personality traits on reproductive success is one of the most important challenges in personality studies and critical to understand the evolutionary implications of behavioural variability among animals. Personality traits are typically associated with mating acquisition in males, and, hence, linked to variation in their reproductive success. However, in most species, sexual selection continues after mating, and sperm traits (such as sperm number and quality) become very important in determining post-mating competitive success. Here, we investigate whether variation in personality traits is associated with variation in sperm traits using the guppy ( Poecilia reticulata ), a species with high levels of sperm competition. We found a positive association between boldness and sperm number but not sperm velocity, suggesting that bolder males have increased post-copulatory success than shyer individuals. No association was found between exploration and sperm traits. Our work highlights the importance of considering post-copulatory traits when investigating fitness consequences of personality traits, especially in species with high levels of female multiple matings and hence sperm competition.

Effects of Copper Oxide Nanoparticles (CuO-NPs) on Parturition Time, Survival Rate and Reproductive Success of Guppy Fish, Poecilia reticulata

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 499-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Forouhar Vajargah ◽  
Ahmad Mohamadi Yalsuyi ◽  
Masoud Sattari ◽  
Marko D. Prokić ◽  
Caterina Faggio
Keyword(s):  
Survival Rate ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Copper Oxide ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Copper Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Oxide Nanoparticles ◽  
Cuo Nps ◽  
Guppy Fish

A sexual pheromone in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata (Peters)

1979 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 184-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. T. Crow ◽  
N. R. Liley
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Male Courtship ◽  
Sexual Pheromone ◽  
Courtship Activity ◽  
Control Water

Male guppies, Poecilia reticulata, were attracted to water which had previously held con-specific females and not to control water or water in which males or ovariectomized females had been maintained. Males expressed a preference for water which had held females in the first few days of their gestation cycles over water which held midcycle (gravid) or ovariectomized females. When males were placed with an unresponsive ovariectomized female, addition of water which had contained intact females resulted in a marked increase in courtship directed towards the ovariectomized female. It is hypothesized that the female guppy releases a sexual pheromone which attracts males and stimulates increased male courtship activity. The pheromone appears to be produced in the ovary and secreted by the female at the period of maximum receptivity following parturition.

Social Behavior Patterns as Determinants of Reproductive Success in the Guppy, Poecilia Reticulata Peters (Pisces: Poeciliidae) an Experimental Study of the Effects of Intermale Competition, Female Choice, and Sexual Selection

Behaviour ◽  
1980 ◽  
Vol 74 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 38-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Farr
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Selection ◽  
Social Behavior ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Ecological Niches ◽  
Color Patterns ◽  
Courtship Display ◽  
Male Effect ◽  
Male Coloration

AbstractThe reproductive success of competing male guppies, Poecilia reticulata, was measured and compared to various features of social behavior and secondary sexual coloration. The most important determinant of reproductive success was the rate at which a male courted females relative to those of other males. Males with higher display rates have a greater chance of encountering a receptive female and are preferred by females. Males adjust their display rate in such a way as to be just noticeably more active than a competitor, and inbred strains differ in the maximum rate at which males can court females. No other factor is able to offset the disadvantage of displaying at a relatively low rate. Sexual selection has resulted in the maximization of courtship activity in natural populations. If males court females with equal frequencies, those which also inseminate females through gonopodial thrusting without female cooperation have a selective advantage. Because poeciliid females store sperm, inseminations through gonopodial thrusting can reduce the reproductive success of competitor males which copulate only following a display. A mixed strategy of displaying and gonopodial thrusting is more successful than either pure strategy. The result is a mating system which partially ignores female choice mechanisms. Intermale aggresssion was found to be maladaptive. Males which displayed at higher rates than competitors were less successful if they were also more aggressive than the competitors, than when they were non-aggressive or the competitors were more aggressive. Males were not able to reduce a competitor's courtship display rate through aggression. It was hypothesized that the low level of aggression in natural guppy populations is attributable to the fact that variance in size of males is low and fights would be lengthy before a winner could be determined. This would subtract from time available for courtship, and female preference for high-displaying males would select against aggressive phenotypes. There was little evidence that conspicuousness of male coloration influences female choice of males. Dull males with high courtship display rates were significantly more successful than conspicuous males with low display rates. It was concluded that females prefer conspicuous males only if all males exhibit equal courtship display rates. The frequency of male color patterns in a population did affect reproductive success. Males with rare color patterns sired more offspring than expected given their frequency. The mechanism by which a rare male effect was achieved depended on the relative mating success of phenotypes in control populations (all phenotypes occurring with equal frequency). If a normally preferred phenotype was rare, females continued to prefer that phenotype over the common phenotype. If a normally unpreferred phenotype was rare, females mated with that phenotype in addition to the preferred phenotype, and the rare male effect was thus achieved by multiple inseminations. Females also tended to mate with more than one male in polymorphic populations, and it was concluded that certain female choice patterns with frequent multiple inseminations can maintain a polymorphism in addition to a pure rare male effect. It was hypothesized that courtship displays and conspicuous male coloration are sexually selected characters which evolved in response to the occupation of invariable habitats or specialized ecological niches by a sexually monomorphic ancestor with only gonopodial thrusting as a means of inseminating females. A subsequent reinvasion of variable habitats resulted in female choice mechanisms which maximize the level of heterozygosity of their offspring, thus resulting in polymorphic populations. The coloration of male guppies is a phenotypic cue which influences female choice in such a manner that they mate with those males with whom they most probably have the fewest genes in common.

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