Alternative male life histories in bluegill sunfish [Lepomis macrochirus]

Male bluegill sunfish are shown to have two alternative mating strategies: cuckoldry or parental care. Cuckolder males first mature at age 2. They follow a developmental sequence of sneaking and then mimicking female behavior to deceptively gain access to spawnings. Males who become parentals (const...

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Published inProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 77; no. 11; pp. 6937 - 6940
Main Authors Gross, M.R, Charnov, E.L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01.11.1980
National Acad Sciences
Subjects
Animal nesting
Artificial satellites
Biological Sciences: Population Biology
Fish scales
Freshwater fishes
Male animals
Mating behavior
Ova
Sneakers
Spermatozoa
Sunfish
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Summary:Male bluegill sunfish are shown to have two alternative mating strategies: cuckoldry or parental care. Cuckolder males first mature at age 2. They follow a developmental sequence of sneaking and then mimicking female behavior to deceptively gain access to spawnings. Males who become parentals (construct nests, attract females, provide brood care) delay maturation until age 7. The parental investment of these males is parasitized by the cuckolders. This system is an example of a truly parasitically dependent mating strategy in vertebrates. A natural selection model is developed to predict the equilibrium frequencies of the two male types. A preliminary test of the model provides qualitative agreement.
Bibliography:L50
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Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.77.11.6937