Offspring quality and female choice in the guppy,Poecilia reticulata

1995 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 377-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAUL F. NICOLETTO
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Offspring Quality

scholarly journals Male coloration affects female gestation period and timing of fertilization in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261004
Author(s):  
Aya Sato ◽  
Ryu-ichi Aihara ◽  
Kenji Karino
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Mate Preference ◽  
Gestation Period ◽  
Behavioral Strategy ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Internal Fertilization ◽  
Internal Mechanism ◽  
Selective Mating ◽  
Male Coloration

The trade-up hypothesis is a female behavioral strategy related to mating with multiple males. In this hypothesis, females can produce high-quality offspring while avoiding the risk of losing reproductive opportunities by non-selective mating with males at first mating and then re-mating with more attractive males. As an internal mechanism to realize this behavioral strategy, we predicted that females would immediately fertilize their eggs when they mated with attractive males, whereas females would delay fertilization when they mated with unattractive males to trade-up sires of offspring. The guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is an ovoviviparous fish with internal fertilization, and females show a clear mate preference based on the area of orange coloration on the bodies of males. In addition, it is known that females show a re-mating strategy consistent with the trade-up hypothesis. We tested whether the attractiveness of mated males affected the gestation period and the timing of fertilization. Females were paired with either colorful males or drab males, and the gestation periods (the number of days from mating to parturition) were compared. In addition, we dissected the abdomens of the females at intervals of several days after mating and observed whether the eggs were fertilized. The gestation period in females that were paired with attractive colorful males was significantly shorter than that in females that were paired with drab males. We found that females that mated with colorful males also had their eggs fertilized earlier than those that mated with drab males. Our findings show that differences in the timing of fertilization according to attractiveness of the mate increase the opportunity for cryptic female choice and trading up.

Tail size and female choice in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

1985 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Bischoff ◽  
James L. Gould ◽  
Daniel I. Rubenstein
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata

scholarly journals Population differentiation without speciation

1998 ◽  
Vol 353 (1366) ◽  
pp. 275-286 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne E. Magurran
Keyword(s):  
Reproductive Isolation ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Female Choice ◽  
Population Differentiation ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Biological Diversity ◽  
Reproductive Behaviour ◽  
Population Divergence ◽  
Rates Of Evolution ◽  
Morphological Differences

Population differentiation is often viewed as an important step towards speciation, and part of the rationale for conserving variation at the intraspecific level is that the potential to generate more biological diversity should be retained. Yet, speciation is not an inevitable consequence of population divergence. This paper reviews recent work on the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata , a species that is renowned for its capacity for population differentiation. Guppy populations evolve rapidly, within 10 to 10 2 generations, as a response to changes in selection exerted by predators. The rates of evolution involved can be up to seven orders of magnitude greater than those seen in the fossil record. Sexual selection, particuarly female choice, appears to reinforce the divergence that natural selection has generated. Perplexingly, however, there is no reproductive isolation (either prezygotic or postzygotic) between populations, even those that have been separated for at least 10 6 generations. Sexual conflict may be the key to explaining this absence of speciation. Male reproductive behaviour, particularly the high incidence of sneaky mating, may be instrumental in producing sufficient gene flow to prevent reproductive isolation. Sneaky mating has the potential to undermine female choice, and is known to be an important means of sperm transfer in wild populations. Sexual dimorphism, also a result of sexual conflict in guppies, may inhibit speciation in another way. Morphological differences between the sexes, that have arisen for reproductive reasons, mean that males and females are pre–adapted for different foraging niches. This, in turn, reduces the opportunity for the development of feeding polymorphisms, a mechanism that seems to have been important in the sympatric speciation of other fish species.

Age and Experience Affect Female Choice in the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 316
Author(s):  
Kodric-Brown ◽  
Nicoletto
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata

Female choice and the relatedness of mates in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

Genetica ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor E. Pitcher ◽  
F. Helen Rodd ◽  
Locke Rowe
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata

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.

Age and Experience Affect Female Choice in the Guppy (Poecilia reticulata)

2001 ◽  
Vol 157 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Astrid Kodric‐Brown ◽  
Paul F. Nicoletto
Keyword(s):  
Female Choice ◽  
Poecilia Reticulata
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