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Research Project
ECOLOGIA COMPORTAMENTAL DE UMA POPULAÇÃO DE SALARIA PAVO COM TÁCTICAS DE REPRODUÇÃO ALTERNATIVAS E INVERSÃO DE PAPEIS SEXUAIS
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Birth date predicts alternative life-history pathways in a fish with sequential reproductive tactics
Publication . Fagundes, Teresa; Simões, Mariana G.; Saraiva, João Luis Vargas de Almeida; Ros, Albert F. H.; Gonçalves, David; Oliveira, Rui Filipe
1. In species with plastic expression of alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs), individuals of
the same sex, usually males, can adopt different reproductive tactics depending on factors such
as body size.
2. The ‘birth date hypothesis’ proposes that condition-dependent expression of ARTs may
ultimately depend on birth date, because individuals born at different times of the year may
achieve different sizes and express different reproductive tactics accordingly. However, this has
rarely been tested.
3. Here, we tested this hypothesis in a fish with ARTs, the peacock blenny (Salaria pavo). A
long-term (6 years) mark–recapture study demonstrated that ARTs in the peacock blenny were
sequential and that males may follow at least two alternative life-history pathways: a nestholder
pathway, in which males express the nest-holder tactic from their first breeding season
onwards, and a parasitic pathway, where males reproduce on their first breeding season as
sneaker males and subsequently as nest-holders.
4. We have found evidence of a birth date effect on the expression of ARTs in the peacock
blenny. Males following the nest-holder pathway are born earlier and are larger at the first
breeding season than males following the parasitic pathway, but they have similar growth
curves.
5. The mechanisms underlying a birth date effect are far from clear and might be diverse. We
have not found support for a mechanism of body size threshold triggering sexual maturation
and subsequent ARTs. A mechanism of tactic determination that is strictly based on timing of
first maturation is also unlikely.
6. A proxy of lifetime reproductive success shows crossing (body size associated) fitness curves
for the two main life-history pathways.
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Funding agency
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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Funding Award Number
SFRH/BD/6502/2001