TY - GEN A1 - Scherer, Ulrike A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Schlupp, Ingo T1 - Male size, not female preferences influence female reproductive success in a poeciliid fish (Poecilia latipinna) BT - a combined behavioural/genetic approach T2 - BMC Research Notes N2 - Objective We investigated the potential role of indirect benefits for female mate preferences in a highly promiscuous species of live-bearing fishes, the sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna using an integrative approach that combines methods from animal behavior, life-history evolution, and genetics. Males of this species solely contribute sperm for reproduction, and consequently females do not receive any direct benefits. Despite this, females typically show clear mate preferences. It has been suggested that females can increase their reproductive success through indirect benefits from choosing males of higher quality. Results Although preferences for large body size have been recorded as an honest signal for genetic quality, this particular study resulted in female preference being unaffected by male body size. Nonetheless, larger males did sire more offspring, but with no effect on offspring quality. This study presents a methodical innovation by combining preference testing with life history measurements—such as the determination of the dry weight of fish embryos—and paternity analyses on single fish embryos. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 468 KW - Fitness KW - Life history KW - Mate choice KW - Microsatellite analysis KW - Offspring weight KW - Paternity analysis KW - Sailfin molly KW - Sexual selection Y1 - 2018 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-417471 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Scherer, Ulrike A1 - Tiedemann, Ralph A1 - Schlupp, Ingo T1 - Male size, not female preferences influence female reproductive success in a poeciliid fish (Poecilia latipinna) BT - a combined behavioural/genetic approach JF - BMC Research Notes N2 - Objective We investigated the potential role of indirect benefits for female mate preferences in a highly promiscuous species of live-bearing fishes, the sailfin molly Poecilia latipinna using an integrative approach that combines methods from animal behavior, life-history evolution, and genetics. Males of this species solely contribute sperm for reproduction, and consequently females do not receive any direct benefits. Despite this, females typically show clear mate preferences. It has been suggested that females can increase their reproductive success through indirect benefits from choosing males of higher quality. Results Although preferences for large body size have been recorded as an honest signal for genetic quality, this particular study resulted in female preference being unaffected by male body size. Nonetheless, larger males did sire more offspring, but with no effect on offspring quality. This study presents a methodical innovation by combining preference testing with life history measurements—such as the determination of the dry weight of fish embryos—and paternity analyses on single fish embryos. KW - Fitness KW - Life history KW - Mate choice KW - Microsatellite analysis KW - Offspring weight KW - Paternity analysis KW - Sailfin molly KW - Sexual selection Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-018-3487-2 SN - 1756-0500 VL - 11 IS - 364 SP - 1 EP - 5 PB - Biomed Central CY - London ER - TY - JOUR A1 - McCoy, Ellen A1 - Syska, Norbert A1 - Plath, Martin A1 - Schlupp, Ingo A1 - Riesch, Rüdiger T1 - Mustached males in a tropical poeciliid fish - emerging female preference selects for a novel male trait JF - Behavioral ecology and sociobiology N2 - One possible mechanism for the (co-)evolution of seemingly novel male traits and female preferences for them is that males exploit pre-existing female biases, and livebearing fishes (Poeciliidae) have been at the forefront of this research for almost two decades. Here, using 13 poeciliid species from four different genera, we tested whether mustache-like rostral filaments found in males of some Mexican molly (Poecilia sphenops) populations could have evolved due to exploitation of a pre-existing female bias. While Mexican mollies were the only species with a significant female association preference for mustached males, we also did not find any species exhibiting significant aversion for mustached males; rather, variance in female preference scores was large throughout. For example, more than 25% of females spent twice as much time with the mustached male compared to the non-mustached male in most species, but even 31% of Mexican molly females spent more time near the non-mustached male. Hence, a comparison of the strength of preference was inconclusive. We discuss the possibility that the female preference of P. sphenops for mustached males could be due to a female pre-existing bias (sensu lato), even if population means were not significant for species other than P. sphenops. This highlights the importance of distinguishing between population means and individual preferences when interpreting mate choice, and thus, adds depth to the concept of mating preferences as a motor for evolutionary change. KW - Female choice KW - Mate preferences KW - Pre-existing bias KW - Sexual selection KW - Character mapping Y1 - 2011 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1154-x SN - 0340-5443 VL - 65 IS - 7 SP - 1437 EP - 1445 PB - Springer CY - New York ER -