Intra-specific variations of egg size, clutch size and larval survival relatedto maternal size in amphidromous Rhinogobius goby

2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuaki Tamada ◽  
Katsuya Iwata
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Larval Survival ◽  
Maternal Size

Egg size, contents, and quality: maternal-age and -size effects on house fly eggs

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (9) ◽  
pp. 1544-1551 ◽  
Author(s):  
G S McIntyre ◽  
R H Gooding
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Size Effects ◽  
Maternal Age ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Egg Quality ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
House Fly ◽  
Egg Volume ◽  
Hatch Rate ◽  
Maternal Size

Egg size is generally regarded as a good predictor of egg quality. However, in phenotypic studies it is difficult to separate the effects of egg-size variation from the effects of the underlying cause of the differences in egg size. We examined the relationships between the size, shape, hatch rate, and biochemical and energy contents of house fly (Musca domestica L.) eggs using two distinct sources of egg-size variation: maternal age and maternal size. By comparing relationships among egg parameters between manipulations we were able to distinguish some maternal effects from pure egg-size effects. Maternal age was negatively correlated with clutch size, egg volume, hatch rate, and lipid content, but was not correlated with protein, carbohydrate, or energy content. Female size did not affect hatch rate or biochemical and energy contents, but was positively correlated with clutch size and egg volume. Partial correlation analyses revealed that egg-size variation due to maternal-age effects was unrelated to hatch rate, but that egg-size variation due to maternal-size effects was weakly negatively correlated with hatch rate. The results suggest that large and small house fly eggs differ primarily in size and that within size classes there is significant variation in other egg parameters. Size is not a useful predictor of egg quality in this system.

The effects of maternal size on clutch traits in a tropical invariant-clutch lizard, Carlia rubrigularis (Scincidae)

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 505-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brett Alexander Goodman
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Reproductive Output ◽  
Reproductive Traits ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Egg Volume ◽  
Maternal Size ◽  
Tropical Australia

AbstractSpecies with an invariant or "fixed" clutch offer a unique opportunity to examine how variation in maternal size relates to key reproductive traits, such as egg size. Theoretical models of offspring size suggest selection should operate to optimize egg size and reproductive output. However, because invariant-clutch species are unable to allocate surplus resources to additional eggs (or offspring) they may exhibit different relationships than those anticipated under theoretical expectations. To test this, I examined relationships between maternal size-egg size in Carlia rubrigularis, an invariant-clutch producing scincid lizard from tropical Australia. C. rubrigularis exhibited relative clutch masses that were lower than variant clutch size species, but which were similar to other invariant clutch size species. However, maternal size (snout-vent length and post-oviposition mass) was correlated with several clutch traits (egg mass, egg width and egg volume), but females in better condition did not produce relatively heavier eggs. These results suggest mechanistic hypotheses may best explain the observed maternal size-egg size relationships in C. rubrigularis.

Parental Investment in Clutch Size and Egg Size in the Ural Owl Strix uralensis

1986 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannu Pietiainen ◽  
Pertti Saurola ◽  
Risto A. Vaisanen
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Parental Investment ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Ural Owl

scholarly journals Male harassment leads to fitness costs for females by disrupting oviposition site preferences

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 611-617
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Bacon ◽  
Flavia Barbosa
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Sexual Conflict ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Callosobruchus Maculatus ◽  
Optimal Number ◽  
Oviposition Site ◽  
Fitness Costs ◽  
Male Harassment ◽  
Oviposition Substrate ◽  
Pinto Beans

Abstract In many species, a difference in the optimal number of copulations for males and females leads to sexual conflict. This is well documented in the bean beetle Callosobruchus maculatus, where both sexes mate multiply and females incur fitness costs from injuries caused by the male genitalia. Here, we demonstrate that sexual conflict also decreases female fitness due to male harassment. We hypothesized that harassment costs would come as 1) decreased clutch size, egg size, or both and by 2) disruption of female preference for higher-quality oviposition substrate. Mated females were housed with two bean types—cowpeas, their preferred natal hosts, and toxic pinto beans. They were then submitted to either no, moderate, or high male harassment in the oviposition site. Females under harassment produced smaller clutch sizes but not smaller eggs, resulting in the absence of an egg-size/clutch-size trade-off. Additionally, females did not exhibit a preference for their natal cowpeas hosts over toxic pinto beans when males were present at the oviposition site, although they do so when harassing males are not present. Harassment disrupted female responses to variation in oviposition substrate quality, resulting in considerable fitness consequences in the form of lower offspring production and survival.

Annual variations in reproductive characteristics of painted turtles (Chrysemys picta)

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 1148-1151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Schwarzkopf ◽  
Ronald J. Brooks
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Repeated Measures ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Annual Variations ◽  
Painted Turtles ◽  
Sources Of Variation ◽  
Clutch Mass

In Algonquin Park, Ontario, body size and clutch characteristics were recorded for 51 female painted turtles (Chrysemyspicta) in 1983, 61 in 1984, and 24 in 1985. Clutch size, clutch mass, and egg width correlated significantly with body size (carapace length) in all 3 years. Egg length and egg mass were significantly related to body size in 1984 and 1985, but not in 1983. There were no significant correlations of egg width or egg mass to clutch size. For a group of the same individuals compared by repeated-measures ANOVA, mean clutch mass and mean egg size, but not mean clutch size, varied significantly among years. Correlation of egg size with body size, lack of correlation between egg size and clutch size, and annual variation in egg size, but not clutch size, all fail to support current versions of optimal egg size theory. Twenty-six females nested in both 1983 and 1984 and 11 females nested in both 1984 and 1985. Fourteen females nested twice in 1 year: six in 1983 and eight in 1984. Between 43 and 73% of adult females nested in a given year and 12–13% nested twice in a single season. These estimates are similar to those reported for other populations of this species. It appears that variations in both clutch size (frequency) and egg size are important sources of variation in reproductive output.

Annual variation in common eider egg size: effects of temperature, clutch size, laying date, and laying sequence

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 1579-1587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory J. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Annual Variation ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Somateria Mollissima ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Common Eiders ◽  
N 93

Annual variation in volumes of eggs laid by common eiders (Somateria mollissima sedentaria) nesting at La Pérouse Bay, Manitoba (58°43′N, 93°27′W), was studied over 3 years (1991–1993). Temperatures during the egg-laying period were higher in 1991 than in 1992 and 1993. However, the eiders began nesting in 1993 at the same time as in 1991, whereas in 1992 the eiders began laying approximately 2 weeks later. Eiders laid significantly smaller clutches in 1992 than in the other 2 years. Egg size did not correlate with clutch size or laying date in any year. However, eiders laid smaller eggs in 1992 and 1993 than in 1991. In five egg clutches, the pattern of intraclutch egg-size variation was different among years. The last laid eggs of five egg clutches were disproportionately smaller in 1992 and 1993 (cold years) than those laid in 1991. Minimum daily temperatures before the egg-laying period (during rapid yolk development) were positively correlated with egg size. However, this effect was not significant when year and egg sequence were controlled for. Egg-size variation was correlated with the overall ambient temperatures during the laying period, whereas annual clutch-size variation was correlated with laying date, suggesting that the proximate mechanisms affecting clutch and egg size are different.

Environmental, ontogenetic, and genetic variation in egg size of Pied Flycatchers

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (8) ◽  
pp. 1534-1542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Potti
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Relative Volume ◽  
Laying Date ◽  
Territory Quality ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Nest Boxes ◽  
Female Condition ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Breeding Seasons

Ontogenetic, genetic, and environmental variation in egg length, breadth, and volume were investigated in the Pied Flycatcher across four breeding seasons in central Spain. Egg length and breadth were poorly correlated and did not vary with laying date. There was an indication of decreasing egg breadth with increasing clutch size that may indicate a trade-off between both variables. Egg size increased with female condition and, independently, with territory quality. Mean egg size decreased with advancing female age, which is perhaps related to the increase of clutch size with age in this species. There were high, significant repeatabilities of almost all egg dimensions, including relative volumes of first and last eggs, among females, both within and between years. Also, nest boxes were repeatable in the relative volume of the last eggs of (different) females laying in them, suggesting an influence of territory quality on relative egg size. Territory quality also had positive influences on some egg measurements that were independent of female condition. Heritability, estimated by mother–daughter regression, was significant only for egg length. These results are discussed in relation to proximate constraints on egg formation, predictions from the brood-survival hypothesis, and a possible trade-off between clutch and egg sizes.

Egg size and clutch size in three species of Nihonotrypaea (Decapoda: Thalassinidea: Callianassidae) from western Kyushu, Japan

2006 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-111 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kubo ◽  
K. Shimoda ◽  
A. Tamaki
Keyword(s):  
Clutch Size ◽  
Egg Size ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Size Variation ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Reproductive Period ◽  
Late Winter ◽  
Estuarine System ◽  
Ariake Sound ◽  
Interspecific Comparisons

Three species of the callianassid genus Nihonotrypaea occur in the Ariake Sound estuarine system, southern Japan; they consist of two tidal-flat species (N. harmandi; N. japonica) and one boulder-beach species (N. petalura), with maximum population densities of 1440, 343, and 12 ind m−2, respectively. Nihonotrypaea harmandi and N. petalura are distributed along the coastline from the outermost part of the sound to the open sea, while N. japonica occurs in the middle part of the sound. Nihonotrypaea japonica has an extended reproductive period from late winter to autumn, while those of the other species are from late spring or summer to autumn. Interspecific comparisons were made for recently laid egg size (as volume) and clutch size (as number of eggs per female). Only in N. japonica was a seasonal egg size variation observed, being significantly larger in winter to spring (mean=0.106 mm3) than in summer (0.080 mm3). By contrast, clutch size was significantly smaller in winter to spring, resulting in nearly the same clutch volume per female (product of the mean egg volume and clutch size) between the seasons. Among the three species, the egg size was ordered as N. japonica (overall mean volume through the seasons=0.092 mm3)>>N. petalura (0.057 mm3)>N. harmandi (0.054 mm3). The clutch size was ordered as N. harmandi>N. petalura≈N. japonica. The clutch volume was ordered as N. japonica≈N. harmandi>N. petalura. The smallest clutch volume value for N. petalura female showed an opposite trend to the relative size of the major cheliped found in a previous study.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document