Male reproductive competition in spawning aggregations of cod (Gadus morhua, L.).
Mol Ecol
; 11(1): 91-102, 2002 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11903907
ABSTRACT
Reproductive competition may lead to a large skew in reproductive success among individuals. Very few studies have analysed the paternity contribution of individual males in spawning aggregations of fish species with huge census population sizes. We quantified the variance in male reproductive success in spawning aggregations of cod under experimental conditions over an entire spawning season. Male reproductive success was estimated by microsatellite-based parentage analysis of offspring produced in six separate groups of spawning cod. In total, 1340 offspring and 102 spawnings distributed across a spawning season were analysed. Our results show that multiple males contributed sperm to most spawnings but that paternity frequencies were highly skewed among males, with larger males on average siring higher proportions of offspring. It was further indicated that male reproductive success was dependent on the magnitude of the size difference between a female and a male. We discuss our results in relation to the cod mating system. Finally, we suggest that the highly skewed distribution of paternity success observed in cod may be a factor contributing to the low effective population size/census population size ratios observed in many marine organisms.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Reprodução
/
Comportamento Sexual Animal
/
Comportamento Competitivo
/
Peixes
Limite:
Animals
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Mol Ecol
Assunto da revista:
BIOLOGIA MOLECULAR
/
SAUDE AMBIENTAL
Ano de publicação:
2002
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Dinamarca