Reproductive behaviour of female rosy bitterling Rhodeus ocellatus in response to a female-biased operational sex ratio

0428525 - ÚBO 2015 RIV NL eng J - Článek v odborném periodiku
Liao, C. - Yu, D. - Chen, Y. - Reichard, Martin - Liu, H.
Reproductive behaviour of female rosy bitterling Rhodeus ocellatus in response to a female-biased operational sex ratio.
Behaviour. Roč. 151, č. 6 (2014), s. 755-768. ISSN 0005-7959. E-ISSN 1568-539X
Grant CEP: GA ČR GBP505/12/G112
Institucionální podpora: RVO:68081766
Klíčová slova: alternative reproductive behaviour * female aggression * operational sex ratio * bitterling
Kód oboru RIV: EG - Zoologie
Impakt faktor: 1.230, rok: 2014

While the effect of Operational Sex Ratio (OSR) on reproductive behaviour of males has been studied extensively, little is known of the response of females facing a female-biased OSR. We investigated the effect of different OSRs on female reproductive behaviour using the rosy bitterling, Rhodeus ocellatus, a freshwater fish that lays its eggs inside the gills of living freshwater mussels. Three levels of OSR (male/female ratio 1:1, 1:3 and 1:5) were tested. We demonstrated that inspection of the mussel (spawning substrate) by individual females increased with increasingly female-biased OSR, but that the rate of following territorial male decreased. Aggression towards other females was not affected by the OSR. Interestingly, when a male bitterling led a non-dominant female towards the mussel, the dominant female would become aggressive to the male and chase the non-dominant female away. Aggression towards male followed a bell-shaped pattern and was highest at an OSR of 1:3. In both the female-biased OSRs examined, almost 50% of dominant females tended to chase away other females and defend the mussel, showing territoriality in a similarmanner to males. These observations suggest that female reproductive behaviour is strongly affected by the OSR, and their reproductive tactics during courtship change from a passive role in courtship (following a male) to an active role in courtship (approaching a male), with presence of female territorial behaviour as the OSR becomes increasingly female-biased. This study provides strong evidence that a female-biased OSR has an important effect on female reproductive behaviour.
Trvalý link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0233863