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Parental investment decision rules: a test in bluegill sunfish

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Summary

We review parental investment decision theory and provide an experimental test of the decision rule used by male bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) in allocating parental investment to their young. The alternative decision rules tested are: (1) invest according to brood size (number) only; (2) invest according to past investment only; (3) invest according to both brood size and past investment; and (4) invest according to neither brood size nor past investment. By manipulating brood size independently of a male's cumulative investment in the brood, and by measuring each male's defensive behavior against a model predator, we found that male bluegill invest according to both brood size and past investment. This result is consistent with recent theory that past parental investment devalues adult future reproductive value, and that animals should therefore invest according to the value of their brood relative to that of their own expected future reproduction.

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  1. Robert Craig Sargent

    Present address: T.H. Morgan School of Biological Sciences, University of Kentucky, 40506-0225, Lexington, Kentucky, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Simon Fraser University, V5A 1S6, Burnaby, B.C., Canada

    Ronald M. Coleman, Mart R. Gross & Robert Craig Sargent

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  1. Ronald M. Coleman
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  2. Mart R. Gross
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  3. Robert Craig Sargent
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Coleman, R.M., Gross, M.R. & Sargent, R.C. Parental investment decision rules: a test in bluegill sunfish. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 18, 59–66 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00299238

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00299238

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