Effects of a native crayfish (Orconectes virilis) on the reproductive success and nesting behavior of sunfish (Lepomis spp.)

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (11) ◽  
pp. 2135-2143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan J Dorn ◽  
Gary G Mittelbach
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Orconectes Virilis ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Natural Lakes ◽  
Successful Reproduction ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Native Crayfish

While crayfish are traditionally considered fish prey, they are capable of feeding on substrate-bound fish eggs and their introductions have been blamed for the decline in fish populations in Europe and North America. To investigate their potential effects on fish reproductive success we measured the effects of a native crayfish (Orconectes virilis) on the reproductive success of two substrate-nesting sunfish, pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) and bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus), in replicated pond experiments. Crayfish were observed feeding on eggs in both experiments. Crayfish presence delayed successful reproduction by pumpkinseeds in densely vegetated ponds, resulting in lower young-of-the-year biomass in ponds with crayfish. In the second experiment, with bluegills in less-vegetated ponds, crayfish prevented successful reproduction entirely. However, when we added crayfish-proof exclosures to the crayfish ponds late in the summer, bluegills located the crayfish-free habitat and successfully reproduced inside the exclosures (1 month after first successful reproduction in control ponds). The results of these experiments demonstrate the potential strong negative effects of crayfish on sunfish reproduction and suggest that the spatial distribution of crayfish and other egg predators may influence fish nesting behaviors and habitat choices. Further studies are needed to determine the magnitude of crayfish effects in natural lakes and ponds where sunfish and crayfish co-occur.

scholarly journals Postweaning maternal care increases male chimpanzee reproductive success

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (38) ◽  
pp. eaaz5746
Author(s):  
Catherine Crockford ◽  
Liran Samuni ◽  
Linda Vigilant ◽  
Roman M. Wittig
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Maternal Care ◽  
Parental Loss ◽  
Male Reproductive Success ◽  
Complex Societies ◽  
Successful Reproduction ◽  
Using Data

Humans are unusual among animals for continuing to provision and care for their offspring until adulthood. This “prolonged dependency” is considered key for the evolution of other notable human traits, such as large brains, complex societies, and extended postreproductive lifespans. Prolonged dependency must therefore have evolved under conditions in which reproductive success is gained with parental investment and diminished with early parental loss. We tested this idea using data from wild chimpanzees, which have similarly extended immature years as humans and prolonged mother-offspring associations. Males who lost their mothers after weaning but before maturity began reproducing later and had lower average reproductive success. Thus, persistent mother-immature son associations seem vital for enhancing male reproductive success, although mothers barely provision sons after weaning. We posit that these associations lead to social gains, crucial for successful reproduction in complex social societies, and offer insights into the evolution of prolonged dependency.

scholarly journals Fitness of breeders in social Damaraland mole-rats is independent of group size

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jack Thorley ◽  
Hanna Bensch ◽  
Kyle Finn ◽  
Tim Clutton-Brock ◽  
Markus Zöttl
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Survival Rates ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Adult Survival ◽  
High Survival ◽  
Successful Reproduction ◽  
Related Group ◽  
Group Members ◽  
Using Data

Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis) are usually viewed as an obligatorily group living eusocial species in which successful reproduction is dependent on reproductive altruism of closely related group members. However, the reproductive ecology of social mole-rats in their natural environment remains poorly understood and it is unclear to what extent successful reproduction is dependent on assistance from other group members. Using data from a 7-year field study of marked individuals, we show that, after dispersal from their natal group, individuals typically settled alone in new burrow systems where they enjoyed high survival rates, and often remained in good body condition for several years before finding a mate. Unlike most other eusocial or singular cooperative breeders, we found that Damaraland mole-rats reproduced successfully in pairs without helpers and experimentally formed pairs had the same reproductive success as larger established groups. Overall there was only a weak increase in reproductive success with increasing group size and no effect of group size on adult survival rates across the population. Juveniles in large groups grew faster early in life but their growth rates declined subsequently so that they eventually plateaued at a lower maximum body mass than juveniles from small groups. Taken together, our data suggest that the fitness benefits of group living to breeders are small and we suggest that extended philopatry in Damaraland mole-rats has evolved because of the high costs and constraints of dispersal rather than because of strong indirect benefits accrued through cooperative behaviour.

Sexual differences in accumulation of mercury in four species of centrarchid fishes

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 944-949 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul F. Nicoletto ◽  
Albert C. Hendricks
Keyword(s):  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Mercury Content ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
South Fork ◽  
The South ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Rock Bass ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Redbreast Sunfish ◽  
Ambloplites Rupestris

A 3-year study of fish from the South River, and the South Fork of the Shenandoah River, and the Shenandoah River in Virginia revealed significant differences in the muscle mercury content of males and females. Female rock bass, Ambloplites rupestris, redbreast sunfish, Lepomis auritus, pumpkinseed, Lepomis gibbosus, and bluegill, Lepomis macrochirus contained higher levels of mercury than the males of each species. An analysis of these species indicated that sex-related differences in mercury levels were not due to differences in body size but may have been related to the onset of reproduction. For example, mercury levels in 1-year-old male and female redbreast sunfish were not significantly different: females averaged 0.66 μg Hg/g and males averaged 0.63 μg Hg/g. However, at 2 years of age, when redbreast sunfish first reproduce, females contained significantly more mercury than males: females averaged 0.84 μg Hg/g and males averaged 0.60 μg Hg/g. Analysis of the other species yielded similar results.

scholarly journals The onset in spring and the end in autumn of the thermal and vegetative growing season affect calving time and reproductive success in reindeer

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amélie Paoli ◽  
Robert B Weladji ◽  
Øystein Holand ◽  
Jouko Kumpula
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Plant Phenology ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Main Hypothesis ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Growing Seasons ◽  
Finnish Lapland ◽  
Reindeer Population

Abstract A developing trophic mismatch between the peak of energy demands by reproducing animals and the peak of forage availability has caused many species’ reproductive success to decrease. The match–mismatch hypothesis (MMH) is an appealing concept that can be used to assess such fitness consequences. However, concerns have been raised on applying the MMH on capital breeders such as reindeer because the reliance on maternal capita rather than dietary income may mitigate negative effects of changing phenologies. Using a long-term dataset of reindeer calving dates recorded since 1970 in a semidomesticated reindeer population in Finnish Lapland and proxies of plant phenology; we tested the main hypothesis that the time lag between calving date and the plant phenology in autumn when females store nutrient reserves to finance reproduction would lead to consequences on reproductive success, as the time lag with spring conditions would. As predicted, the reproductive success of females of the Kutuharju reindeer population was affected by both the onset of spring green-up and vegetative senescence in autumn as calves were born heavier and with a higher first-summer survival when the onset of the vegetation growth was earlier and the end of the thermal growing season the previous year was earlier as well. Our results demonstrated that longer plant growing seasons might be detrimental to reindeer’s reproductive success if a later end is accompanied by a reduced abundance of mushrooms.

scholarly journals Genetic Diversity Assessment and Marker-Assisted Selection in Crops

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1481
Author(s):  
Francesco Mercati ◽  
Francesco Sunseri
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Diversity ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Crop Yield ◽  
Marker Assisted Selection ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Diversity Assessment ◽  
Earth’S Climate

Global warming is negatively impacting on crop yield and Earth’s climate changes can bring possible negative effects on the growth and reproductive success of crops [...]

EFFECT OF DIETARY SELENIUM ON THE REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF BLUEGILLS (LEPOMIS MACROCHIRUS)

1993 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 551 ◽  
Author(s):  
James J. Coyle ◽  
Denny R. Buckler ◽  
Christopher G. Ingersoll ◽  
James F. Fairchild ◽  
Thomas W. May
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Success ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Dietary Selenium

Distribution, density, and growth of young-of-the-year fishes in Mitchell Bay, Lake St. Clair

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1153-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. K. Leslie ◽  
C. A. Timmins
Keyword(s):  
Distribution Density ◽  
Submerged Macrophytes ◽  
Larval Fish ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Alosa Pseudoharengus ◽  
Dorosoma Cepedianum ◽  
Beach Seine ◽  
Peak Density ◽  
Young Of The Year ◽  
Emerald Shiner

Thirty-eight taxa of young-of-the-year fishes were collected with a beach seine and plankton nets in Mitchell Bay, a shallow, densely vegetated embayment on Lake St. Clair, from April to October, 1983, 1984, and 1990. The ecosystem of the bay and adjacent land has been altered by agricultural, industrial, and recreational development for more than a century. Although taxa were numerous, most species were rare or uncommon in collections. The assemblage of larval fish consisted primarily of brook silverside (Labidesthes sicculus), pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus), spottail shiner (Notropis hudsonius), emerald shiner (Notropis atherinoides), alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus), and gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum). Many species were distributed in or near submerged macrophytes at the shore. The species most abundant were pumpkinseed, which reached peak density (11 931 young of the year/100 m3) in late June 1990, and brook silverside (1363 young of the year/100 m3) in late June 1984.

Description of Gyrodactylus micropteri n.sp. from Micropterus dolomieui in Lake Huron, with a review of the taxonomy of species of Gyrodactylus (Monogenea) parasitizing centrarchid fishes in North America

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1337-1339 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Nicola ◽  
D. K. Cone
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Lepomis Macrochirus ◽  
Marginal Hook ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Lepomis Gibbosus ◽  
Type Specimens ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieui ◽  
Original Species ◽  
Species Specific ◽  
Centrarchid Fishes

An extensive collection of Gyrodactylus from centrarchid fishes in Ontario is examined. Gyrodactylus goerani Hanek and Fernando, 1971 is recorded from Ambloplites rupestris in Lake Ontario and Lepomis gibbosus, Lepomis macrochirus, and Pomoxis sp. in Lake Erie. Gyrodactylus macrochiri Hoffman and Putz, 1964 is recorded from L. gibbosus in Algonquin Park. Gyrodactylus micropteri n.sp. is described from Micropterus dolomieui in Lake Huron. The new species has a marginal hook sickle with a blade that toward its tip curves substantially inward. Examination of type specimens of G. goerani, G. macrochiri, and three other species specific to centrarchid fishes in North America (Gyrodactylus gloriosi Rogers, 1968, Gyrodactylus heterodactylus Rogers and Wellborn, 1965, and Gyrodactylus lineadactylus Wellborn, 1967) revealed that the original species descriptions are inadequate with respect to the diagnostically important marginal hook sickles. The haptoral sclerites of these species are redrawn.

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