Monogamous pair bonds and mate switching in the Western Australian seahorse Hippocampus subelongatus

Apparently monogamous animals often prove, upon genetic inspection, to mate polygamously. Seahorse males provide care in a brood pouch. An earlier genetic study of the Western Australian seahorse demonstrated that males mate with only one female for each particular brood. Here we investigate whether...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of evolutionary biology 2000-11, Vol.13 (6), p.882-888
Main Authors: Kvarnemo, C., Moore, G. I., Jones, A. G., Nelson, W. S., Avise, J. C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
H. subelongatus
Hippocampus angustus
Hippocampus subelongatus
interbrood interval
mating pattern
monogamy
polygyny
seahorse
Syngnathidae
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Summary:Apparently monogamous animals often prove, upon genetic inspection, to mate polygamously. Seahorse males provide care in a brood pouch. An earlier genetic study of the Western Australian seahorse demonstrated that males mate with only one female for each particular brood. Here we investigate whether males remain monogamous in sequential pregnancies during a breeding season. In a natural population we tagged males and sampled young from two successive broods of 14 males. Microsatellite analyses of parentage revealed that eight males re‐mated with the same female, and six with a new female. Thus, in this first study to document long‐term genetic monogamy in a seahorse, we show that switches of mates still occur. Polygynous males moved greater distances between broods, and tended to have longer interbrood intervals, than monogamous males, suggesting substantial costs associated with the breaking of pair bonds which may explain the high degree of social monogamy in this fish genus.
ISSN:1010-061X
1420-9101
DOI:10.1046/j.1420-9101.2000.00228.x