Abstract
Human-induced eutrophication, resulting in algal blooms and increased water turbidity, is an alarming problem in aquatic systems. Here, we experimentally tested the impact of algal turbidity on parental care, egg fanning, and time in the nest, in the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus, a fish with uniparental male care. We allowed males to care for their eggs in either clear water or water made turbid by planktonic algae. In the early brood cycle, males fanned their eggs less in turbid than in clear water, but this difference disappeared later. Despite decreased care, egg survival was higher in turbid conditions, indicating that early fanning may partly be redundant for egg survival and perhaps used more as courtship. Males also spent more time out of their nest in turbid water, perhaps as a means to encounter additional females under conditions of low visibility.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Hanna Kokko, Colette St. Mary, Bob Wong and Lotta Kvarnemo for the comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. We also like to thank Topi Lehtonen, Maria Järvi-Laturi, Kaisa Mäki-Kihniä, Veli-Pekka Antti-Poika, Ilkka Anttila and Hope Klug for the help in the field. Financial support was received from Maj and Tor Nessling foundation (to M.J.); Graduate School in Evolutionary Ecology (to M.J.); Onni Talas foundation (to M.J.); the Finnish Academy (211973 to K.L.). This study has been approved by the University of Helsinki animal housing authorities, permit no. HY 46–03.
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Järvenpää, M., Lindström, K. Algal blooms decrease care but increase egg survival in a fish with paternal care. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65, 2023–2028 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1211-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-011-1211-5