Chemically-mediated sexual display postures in pre-ovulatory female topmouth gudgeon, Pseudorasbora parva
While mating systems vary considerably throughout the animal kingdom, smell is increasingly recognised as a common factor in successful copulation. However, the full range of olfactory- induced mating behaviours among animals is undoubtedly underestimated in comparison to visual or contact stimuli,...
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Published in | Behaviour Vol. 149; no. 9; pp. 1003 - 1018 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Netherlands
Brill
2012
BRILL |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | While mating systems vary considerably throughout the animal kingdom, smell is
increasingly recognised as a common factor in successful copulation. However,
the full range of olfactory- induced mating behaviours among animals is
undoubtedly underestimated in comparison to visual or contact stimuli, and this
underestimation suggests that our understanding of courtship rituals may be
incomplete. Here, we use the highly invasive topmouth gudgeon,
Pseudorasbora
parva as a biological model to separate and validate the
induction of headstands as courtship behaviour in many fish species. Conspecific
odour was isolated using solid phase extraction (SPE) and fractionated using
high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Active fractions were
characterised using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Electrophysiological
responses of pre-ovulatory females to conspecific odour were also tested via the
electro-olfactogram (EOG). Results revealed that pre-ovulatory females adopted
headstand body postures during exposure to nest guarding male odour (4/12) and
SPE extract (5/12) but did not display during exposure to any other odour.
Fractions from HPLC yielded 1 active fraction that induced headstand body
postures in pre-ovulatory females (4/12). The active fraction eluted at
30-35 min and showed no response in the UV. NMR imaging revealed
low intensity levels of aliphatic protons: methylene protons (CH2) at
around 2 parts per million (ppm) and methin (CH) at around 3 ppm. EOG response
amplitudes were approximately double in response to pre-ovulatory female odour
than to odour derived from post-ovulatory females (Mann-Whitney
U-test, p<0.01,
N=6).
This study provides evidence of sex-specific chemical cues and responsive,
adaptive sexual behaviour in P. parva and demonstrates that
female display postures may be induced by chemical stimuli alone. |
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Bibliography: | istex:34CF75CA32EAC0D99698C477CAA686159A76AD40 href:1568539x_149_09_s007_text.pdf ark:/67375/JKT-G234DBLN-N ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0005-7959 1568-539X 0005-7959 |
DOI: | 10.1163/1568539X-00003024 |