Does traumatic secretion transfer manipulate mating roles or reproductive output in a hermaphroditic sea slug?

Copulation in the simultaneous hermaphrodite Siphopteron sp. involves injection of prostate fluids into the mating partner with a stylet-shaped penile appendage before insemination. It has been hypothesised that such traumatic secretion transfer manipulates sex roles or the recipient's short-te...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2013-08, Vol.67 (8), p.1239-1247
Main Authors: Lange, Rolanda, Werminghausen, Johanna, Anthes, Nils
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Ecology
Animal reproduction
Aquatic life
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Control groups
Female animals
Females
Injection
Insemination
Invertebrates
Life Sciences
Male animals
Mating behavior
Original Paper
Ova
Prostate
Secretion
Slugs
Spermatozoa
Zoology
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Summary:Copulation in the simultaneous hermaphrodite Siphopteron sp. involves injection of prostate fluids into the mating partner with a stylet-shaped penile appendage before insemination. It has been hypothesised that such traumatic secretion transfer manipulates sex roles or the recipient's short-term reproductive output. To test manipulative effects of traumatic secretion transfer, we ablated the stylet of male-acting individuals and then paired them to untreated focal individuals. Mating behaviour and egg output of focal individuals was then compared between this 'no injection group' and a 'control group' with sham-treated mating partners. We found that penile stylets were inserted at different areas prior to and during insemination, but prostate fluid injection was restricted to the first phase. Here, injections were into the anterior foot region, indicating that prostate secretions target the nearby male or female copulatory tracts. Our experimental manipulation of traumatic secretion transfer did not affect the exhibited mating roles. Matings in both treatments were usually reciprocal so that both partners acted in the male as well as female mating role. Moreover, sperm recipient reproductive output did not differ between treatments. We conclude that traumatic secretion transfer in this species either affects currently unmeasured traits, for instance the donor's paternity share, or that these sea slugs are so well-adapted to traumatic secretion transfer that the effects were too subtle to be detected in our current assays.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-013-1551-4