Synopsis
Reproductive effort in fish through the time of spawning should include effort spent in producing gametes, territorial defense and courtship. This investment may be repeated if eggs are lost or the pair is separated after spawning has occurred. Little is known about how investments change when fish repeat reproduction. This study examined some changes in gamete production and courtship as initial pairs of orange chromides, Etroplus maculatus, were successively cycled with new partners after spawning had occurred. Results indicate that males’ fertilization rate remained the same throughout all cycles. Females’ egg number and total egg mass production also remained the same. However, the quality of individual eggs decreased significantly with every successive cycle. Changes in courtship behavior were also documented for some modal action patterns. It appears from these results that there are definite changes in both courtship and spawning characteristics from cycle to cycle. Therefore, the reproductive effort as a whole may change. In turn this may help select for the type of reproductive strategy observed in nature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References cited
Bagenal, T.B. 1969. The relationship between food supply and fecundity in brown trout. J. Fish Biol. 1: 167–182.
Barlow, G.W. 1970. A test of appeasement and arousal hypothesis of courtship behavior in a cichlid fish Etroplus maculatus. Z. Tierpsychol. 27: 799–806.
Baylis, J.R. 1981. The evolution of parental care in fishes, with reference to Darwin’s rule of male sexual selection. Env. Biol. Fish. 6: 223–251.
Dawkins, R. 1976. The selfish gene. Oxford University Press, Oxford 224 pp.
Gadgil, M. & W.H. Bossert. 1970. Life historical consequences of natural selection. Amer. Nat. 104: 1–24.
Hester, F.J. 1964. Effects of food supply in the female guppy, Lebistes reticulatus (Peters). J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 21: 757–764.
Hirshfield, M.F. & D.W. Tinkle. 1975. Natural selection and the evolution of reproductive effort. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A 72: 2227–2231.
Hirshfield, M.F. 1980. An experimental analysis of reproductive effort and cost in the Japanese medaka, Oryzias latipes. Ecology 61: 282–292.
Kuzo, G.B. 1974. An analysis of digging behavior for the orange chromide, Etroplus maculatus. M.Sc. Thesis, Illinois State University, Normal 145 pp.
Perrone, M. 1978. Mate size and breeding success in a mono¬gamous cichlid fish. Env. Biol. Fish. 3: 193–201.
Pianka, E. 1970. On r and k selection. Amer. Nat. 104: 592–597.
Pianka, E.R. 1976. Natural selection of optimal reproductive tactics. Amer. Zool. 16: 775–784.
Samarakoon, J.I. 1981. Parental behavior and ecology of the Asian cichlids Etroplus suratensis and Etroplus maculatus. Ph. D. Thesis, Illinois State University, Normal. 331 pp.
Scott, D.P. 1962. Effect of food quantity on fecundity of rainbow trout Salmo gairdneri. J. Fish. Res Board Can. 19: 715–731.
Stearns, S.C. 1976. Life-history tactics: a review of the ideas. Quart. Rev. Biol. 51: 3–47.
Stearns, S.C. 1980. A new view of life-history evolution. Oikos 35: 266–281.
Ward, J. A. & R.L. Wyman. 1975. The cichlids of the resplendent isle. Oceans 8: 42–47.
Ward, J.A. &-R.L. Wyman. 1977. Ethology and ecology of cichlid fishes of the genus Etroplus in Sri Lanka: preliminary findings. Env. Biol. Fish. 2: 137–145.
Ward, J. A. & J.I. Samarakoon. 1981. Reproductive tactics of the Asian cichlids of the genus Etroplus in Sri Lanka. Env. Biol. Fish. 6: 95–103.
Williams, G.C. 1966a. Natural selection, the costs of reproduction, and a refinement of Lack’s principle. Amer. Nat. 100: 687–690.
Williams, G.C. 1966b. Adaptation and natural selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 307 pp.
Wootton, R.J. 1979. Energy costs of egg production and environmental determinants of fecundity in teleost fishes, pp. 133–159. In: P.J. Miller (ed.) Fish Phenology: Anabolic Adaptiveness in Teleosts, Academic Press, London.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1983 Dr W. Junk Publishers, The Hague
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lamon, M.S., Ward, J.A. (1983). Measurements of reproductive effort from successive reproductive cycles for the Asian cichlid Etroplus maculatus . In: Noakes, D.L.G., Lindquist, D.G., Helfman, G.S., Ward, J.A. (eds) Predators and prey in fishes. Developments in environmental biology of fishes, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7296-4_17
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7296-4_17
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-009-7298-8
Online ISBN: 978-94-009-7296-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive