Multiple paternity in the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher

In cooperative breeders, mature males may compete for fertilizations. In this study, we measured the degree of multiple paternity in a natural population of a cooperatively breeding fish. Neolamprologus pulcher (Perciformes: Cichlidae) is a highly social cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. We used h...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral ecology and sociobiology 2008-08, Vol.62 (10), p.1581-1589
Main Authors: Dierkes, P, Taborsky, M, Achmann, R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alleles
Alternative mating tactics
Animal Ecology
Animal reproduction
Behavioral Sciences
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Breeding
Cichlidae
Cichlids
Cooperation
Ecological genetics
Female animals
Fish
Freshwater
Life Sciences
Male animals
Mating behavior
microsatellite repeats
Neolamprologus pulcher
Offspring
Original Paper
Parasitism
Parentage
Perciformes
Studies
Vertebrates
Zoology
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Summary:In cooperative breeders, mature males may compete for fertilizations. In this study, we measured the degree of multiple paternity in a natural population of a cooperatively breeding fish. Neolamprologus pulcher (Perciformes: Cichlidae) is a highly social cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika. We used highly variable microsatellite loci to survey 12 groups with an average number of 10.6 brood care helpers per group and a total of 43 offspring (mean 3.6 per brood). In 11 of 12 groups, all young were assigned to the dominant female. The dominant male sired all offspring in three groups, part of the offspring in four groups, and in five groups, he had no paternity at all. In total, 44.2% of young were not fathered by the current male territory owner. Multiple paternity was found in 5 of 12 broods (41.7 %), with 8 of 35 young (22.9 %) being sired by males other than the respective territory owners. This is an exceptionally high rate of extra-pair paternity among cooperatively breeding vertebrates. Neither helpers present in these territories during collection nor neighbouring males were unequivocally assigned to have sired these extra-pair young. However, behavioural observations suggest that male helpers may have produced these young before being expelled from the territory in response to this reproductive parasitism. We discuss these results in the light of reproductive skew theory, cooperative breeding in vertebrates and alternative reproductive tactics in fish.
ISSN:0340-5443
1432-0762
DOI:10.1007/s00265-008-0587-3