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Does size always matter? Mate choice and sperm allocation in Panulirus guttatus, a highly sedentary, habitat-specialist spiny lobster

Does size always matter? Mate choice and sperm allocation in Panulirus guttatus, a highly... AbstractSpotted spiny lobsters, Panulirus guttatus, are small,obligate reef-dwellers that exhibit a highly sedentary lifestyle and a lowtendency to aggregate with conspecifics, and that reproduce asynchronouslyyear-round. Individual females can produce multiple clutches per year buthave a short receptivity per clutch. As in most spiny lobsters, females ofP. guttatus mate only once per clutch and resistfurther mating attempts, features that may favour development of female matechoice but limit the potential for sperm competition. We separately examinedmate choice by large and small mature females through laboratory experimentsthat controlled for effects of male–male competition, quality of shelter,and mere social attraction. Only large females expressed preference forlarger males relative to their own size, suggesting that only large femalesthat mate with small males risk sperm limitation on fecundity success. Incouples that mated, males deposited rather small, thinly spreadspermatophores on the sterna of females. Spermatophore area (considered as aproxy measure of sperm content) increased with male size and showed norelationship with female size, suggesting that males of P.guttatus have a short sperm-recovery period or do not exhibitstrategic sperm allocation in a non-competitive context. A comparison ofaverage sperm allocation between P. guttatus and itssympatric species, P. argus (a much larger, highly mobile,and highly social species with more seasonal reproductive periods and alonger receptivity of females per clutch), suggests that males of P.guttatus allocate proportionally less sperm to females, onaverage, than males of P. argus do. According topredictions of across-species risk models, this result suggests that malesof P. guttatus perceive lower average levels of spermcompetition risk than males of P. argus do, implying thatdifferent Panulirus species may exhibit different matingstrategies in accordance with their particular life-history andsociobiological traits. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Behaviour Brill

Does size always matter? Mate choice and sperm allocation in Panulirus guttatus, a highly sedentary, habitat-specialist spiny lobster

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Publisher
Brill
Copyright
Copyright © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands
ISSN
0005-7959
eISSN
1568-539X
DOI
10.1163/000579511X605740
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

AbstractSpotted spiny lobsters, Panulirus guttatus, are small,obligate reef-dwellers that exhibit a highly sedentary lifestyle and a lowtendency to aggregate with conspecifics, and that reproduce asynchronouslyyear-round. Individual females can produce multiple clutches per year buthave a short receptivity per clutch. As in most spiny lobsters, females ofP. guttatus mate only once per clutch and resistfurther mating attempts, features that may favour development of female matechoice but limit the potential for sperm competition. We separately examinedmate choice by large and small mature females through laboratory experimentsthat controlled for effects of male–male competition, quality of shelter,and mere social attraction. Only large females expressed preference forlarger males relative to their own size, suggesting that only large femalesthat mate with small males risk sperm limitation on fecundity success. Incouples that mated, males deposited rather small, thinly spreadspermatophores on the sterna of females. Spermatophore area (considered as aproxy measure of sperm content) increased with male size and showed norelationship with female size, suggesting that males of P.guttatus have a short sperm-recovery period or do not exhibitstrategic sperm allocation in a non-competitive context. A comparison ofaverage sperm allocation between P. guttatus and itssympatric species, P. argus (a much larger, highly mobile,and highly social species with more seasonal reproductive periods and alonger receptivity of females per clutch), suggests that males of P.guttatus allocate proportionally less sperm to females, onaverage, than males of P. argus do. According topredictions of across-species risk models, this result suggests that malesof P. guttatus perceive lower average levels of spermcompetition risk than males of P. argus do, implying thatdifferent Panulirus species may exhibit different matingstrategies in accordance with their particular life-history andsociobiological traits.

Journal

Behaviour – Brill

Published: Jan 1, 2011

Keywords: SPINY LOBSTERS; MATING SYSTEM; SPERM COMPETITION RISK; CORAL REEF HABITAT; MATE CHOICE; PALINURIDAE; SPERM ALLOCATION

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