Abstract
The mating system and protandrous sex change of the platycephalid fish Thysanophrys celebica were examined by collection and observation in the field and by use of aquarium experiments. Male–female pairs formed in the afternoon, and performed spawning behavior at night during the warmest season from July to early September. The pair bond was temporary, and both sexes subsequently changed partners. In pairs, the female was always larger than the male, although there were no significant size-assortative relationships between males and females in the pair. Home ranges of females and males overlapped, indicative of an absence of territoriality. Tagged individuals did not stay in the study area. These results indicate that random mating occurs for this species. Protandrous sex change of T. celebica was confirmed by field observation of a tagged individual and by aquarium experiments. Males (≤116 mm total length) changed sex at 2 years old, and females (≥97 mm) at 3–5 years old. Because males changed sex even in the presence of larger females, sex change was not socially controlled. Consequently, reversed (female-to-male) sex change did not occur in aquarium experiments with rearing females only. For this species, it is suggested that random mating favors protandrous sex change at a fixed age and/or size, not depending on social status, as the original size-advantage model has predicted.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to M. Mashiko, S. Shimizu, S. Endo, and S. Tomatsu for their assistance with the field observations. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI grants to T.S. (nos 19570016 and 24370006) and to T.K. (nos 21570026 and 24570033) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
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Sunobe, T., Sakaida, S. & Kuwamura, T. Random mating and protandrous sex change of the platycephalid fish Thysanophrys celebica (Platycephalidae). J Ethol 34, 15–21 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0439-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-015-0439-3