Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Polygynandry inPseudotropheus zebra, a cichlid fish from Lake Malawi

  • Full paper
  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Synopsis

Parental care in the Malawian cichlid fishPseudotropheus zebra ‘BB’ is extensive and exclusively maternal; males contribute only genetic material. The costs of searching for multiple mates (in this case risk of predation on orally incubated eggs) suggested that females should be monandrous; microsatellite genetypes of seven brooding females and their young, however, reveal extensive multiple paternity in this species, with a mean of 3.8 paternal individuals per brood. Polygynandry inP. zebra is probably not maintained by selection for genetically diverse offspring; potential explanations include avoidance of inbreeding, and bet-hedging on other male characteristics that females are unable to evaluate when selecting a mate. The observed degree of multiple paternity strongly suggests that females are free to choose mates as they will, a prerequisite of many theories positing sexual selection as a key element in Malawi chichlid evolution. It should also result in elevation of effective population sizes, and thus be antagonistic to runaway evolution of male secondary sexual characteristics, but not necessarily to other modes of sexual selection.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References cited

  • Alcock, J. 1989. Animal behavior. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland. 596 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold, S.J. 1983. Sexual selection: the interface of theory and empiricism. pp. 67–108. In: P. Bateson (ed.) Mate Choice. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ausubel, F.M., R. Brent, R.E. Kingston, D.D. Moore, J.G. Seidman, J.A. Smith & K. Struhl (ed.). 1989. Short protocols in molecular biology. John Wiley & Sons. New York. 387 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avise, J. 1994. Molecular markers, natural history, and evolution, Sinauer Associates, Sunderland. 511 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow, G.W. 1991. Mating systems among cichlid fishes. pp. 173–190. In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes. Chapman & Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chakraborty, R., T.R. Meagher & P.E. Smouse. 1988. Parentage analysis with genetic markers in natural populations. I. The expected proportion of offspring with unambiguous paternity. Genetics 118: 527–536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Devlin, B., K. Roeder & N.C. Ellstrand. 1990. Fractional paternity assignment: theoretical development and comparison to other methods. Theor. Appl. Genet. 76: 369–380.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dixon, A.F.G. 1989. Evolution and adaptive significance of cyclical parthenogenesis in aphids. pp. 289–297. In: A.J. Minks & P. Harrewijn (ed.) Aphids, Their Biology, Natural Enemies, and Control, Elsevier, Amsterdam.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dominey, W.J. 1984. Effects of sexual selection and life history on speciation: species flocks in African cichlids and HawaiianDrosophila. pp. 231–250. In: A.A. Echelle & I. Kornfield (ed.) Evolution of Fish Species Flocks. University of Maine Press, Orono.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eccles, D.H. & E. Trewavas. 1989. Malawian cichlid fishes. Lake Fish Movies, Herten. 334 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellstrand, N.C. 1984. Multiple paternity in the fruits of the wild radishRaphanus sativus. Amer. Nat. 123: 819–828.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fryer, G. & T.D. Iles. 1972. The cichlid fishes of the Great Lakes of Africa. Oliver Boyd, Edinborough. 641 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glesener, R.R. & D. Tilman. 1978. Sexuality and the components of environmental uncertainty. Amer. Nat. 112: 659–673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardy, I.C.W. 1994. Sex ratio and mating structure in the parasitoid Hymenoptera. Oikos 69: 3–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hert, E. 1992. Homing and home-site fidelity in rock-dwelling cichlids. Env. Biol. Fish. 33: 229–237.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kirkpatrick, M. & M.J. Ryan. 1991. The evolution of mating preferences and the paradox of the lek. Nature 350: 33–38.

    Google Scholar 

  • Konings, A. 1990. Cichlids of Lake Malawi. TFH Publications. Neptune City. 495 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korings, A. 1995. Malawi cichlids in their natural habitat, Cichlid Press, St. Leon-Rot. 352 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornfield, I. 1991. Genetics, pp. 103–128. In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes, Chapman & Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kornfield, I. & A. Parker, 1996. Molecular systematics of a rapidly evolving species flock: the mbuna of Lake Malawi and the search for phylogenetic signal. In: T.D. Kocher & C. Stepien (ed.) Molecular Systematics of Fishes, Academic Press, New York (in press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, D.S.C., P.N. Reinthal & J. Trendall. 1986. A guide to the fishes of Lake Malawi National Park. World Wildlife Foundation. Gland. 71 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lincoln, S. & M. Daly. 1991. PCPRIMER (computer software). Whitehead Institute, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marsh & A.J. Ribbink. 1986. Reproductive seasonality in a group of rock-frequenting cichlids in Lake Malawi. J. Zool. Soc. Lond. 209: 9–20.

    Google Scholar 

  • McElroy, D.M. & I. Kornfield. 1990. Sexual selection, reproductive behavior, and speciation in the mbuna species flock of lake Malawi. Env. Biol. Fish. 28: 273–284.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKaye, K.R. 1991. Sexual selection and the evolution of the cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi. pp. 241–257. In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes, Chapman & Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKaye, K.R. & W.N. Gray, 1984. Extrinsic barriers to gene flow in rock dwelling cichlids of Lake Malawi: microhabitat heterogenecity and reef colonization. pp. 169–184. In: A.A. Echelle & I. Kornfield (ed.) Evolution of Fish Species Flocks, University of Maine Press, Orono.

    Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, A., T.D. Kocher, P. Basasibwaki & A.C. Wilson. 1990. Monophyletic origin of Lake Victoria cichlids suggested by mitochondrial DNA sequences. Nature 347: 550–553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milligan, B.G. & C.K. McMurray. 1993. Dominant vs. codominant genetic markers in the estimation ot male mating success. Mol. Ecol. 2: 275–283.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, P. & I. Kornfield. 1993. Retention of an ancestral polymorphism in the mbuna species flock (Pisces: Cichlidae) of Lake Malawi. Mol. Biol. Evol. 10: 1015–1029.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, P. & I. Kornfield. 1995. Evidence of a population bottleneck and extreme philopatry in the mbuna species flock (Teleostei: Cichlidae) of Lake Malawi. Mol. Biol. Evol. 12: 1085–1093.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran, P., I. Kornfield & P. Reinthal. 1994. Molecular systematics and radiation of the haplochromine cichlids (Teleostei: Perciformes) of Lake Malawi. Copeia 1994: 274–228.

  • Mrowka, W. 1987. Oral fertilization in a mouthbrooding cichlid fish. Ethology 74: 293–296.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nichols, R.A. & R.K. Butlin. 1989. Does runaway sexual selection work in finite populations? J. Evol. Biol. 2: 299–313.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noakes, D.L.G. 1991. Ontogeny of behavior in cichlids. pp. 209–224. In: M.H.A. Keenleyside (ed.) Cichlid Fishes, Chapman & Hall, London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Owen, R.B., R. Crossley, T.C. Johnson, D. Tweddle, I. Kornfield, S. Davison, D.H. Eccles & D.E. Engstrom. 1990. Major low levels of Lake Malawi and implications for speciation rates in cichlid fishes. Proc. Roy. Soc. Lond. 240-B: 519–553.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G.A. 1983. Mate quality and mating decisions. pp. 141–166. In: P. Bateson (ed.) Mate Choice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G.A. 1984. Sperm competition and the evolution of animal mating strategies, pp. 1–60. In: R.L. Smith (ed.) Sperm Competition and the Evolution of Animal Mating Systems, Academic Press, Orlando.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parker, G.A. 1992. Snakes and female sexuality. Nature 355: 395–396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Philippi, T. & J. Seger. 1989. Hedging one's evolutionary bets, revisited. Trends Ecol. Evol. 4: 41–44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Queller, D.C., J.E. Strassmann & C.R. Hughes. 1993. Microsatellites and kinship. Trends Ecol. Evol. 8; 285–288.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribbink, A.J. & D.S.C. Lewis. 1982.Melanochromis crabro sp. nov.: a cichlid fish from Lake Malawi which feeds on ectoparasites and catfish eggs. Neth. J. Zool. 32: 72–87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ribbink, A.J., B.A. Marsh, A.C. Marsh, A.C. Ribbink & B.J. Sharp. 1983. A preliminary survey of the cichlid fishes of rocky habitats of Lake Malawi. S. Afr. J. Sci. 18: 149–310.

    Google Scholar 

  • Row, L., G. Arnquist & J.J. Kruppa. 1994. Sexual conflict and the evolutionary ecology of mating patterns: water striders as a model system. Trends Ecol. Evol. 9: 289–294.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scholz, C.A. & B.R. Rosendahl. 1988. Low lake stands in Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika, East Africa, delineated with multifold seismic data. Science 240: 1645–1648.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugg, D.W. & R.K. Chesser. 1994. Effective population sizes with multiple paternity. Genetics 137: 1147–1155.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taborsky, M. 1994. Sneakers, satellites, and helpers: parasitic and cooperative behavior in fish reproduction. Adv. Stud. Behav. 23: 1–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trendall, K. 1988. Recruitment of juvenile mbuna (Pisces: Cichlidae) to experimental rock shelters in Lake Malawi, Africa, Env. Biol. Fish. 22: 117–131.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R.L. 1985. Social evolution. Benjamin/Cummings Publishing, Menlo Park. 462 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner, G.F. 1994. Speciation mechanisms in Lake Malawi cichlids: a critical review. Arch. Hydrobiol. 44: 139–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Watson, P.J. 1991. Multiple paternity as genetic bet-hedging in female Sierra Dome spiders,Lynyphia litigiosa. Anim. Behav. 41: 343–360.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilcockson, R.W., C.S. Craun & T.H. Day. 1995. Heritability of a sexually selected character expressed in both sexes. Nature 374: 158–159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G.C. 1992. Natural selection: domains, levels, and challenges. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 208 pp.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology and Center for Marine Studies, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469-5751, U.S.A.

    Alex Parker & Irv Kornfield

Authors
  1. Alex Parker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Irv Kornfield
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Parker, A., Kornfield, I. Polygynandry inPseudotropheus zebra, a cichlid fish from Lake Malawi. Environ Biol Fish 47, 345–352 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005049

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005049

Key words

Search

Navigation