Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Ecological context and the importance of body and gnathopod size for pairing success in two amphipod ecomorphs

  • Behavioural Ecology
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Ecological context generates interspecific variation in mating behavior by imposing differential constraints on the action of sexual selection, but operation of these constraints in nature is not well understood. We used field and laboratory studies to examine the importance of body size and size of sexually dimorphic appendages, the gnathopods, for pairing success in two freshwater amphipod species within the Hyalella azteca species complex. We focused on a large-bodied species found in habitats where ecological factors tend to favor large body size, and a small-bodied species in habitats where small body size is favored by size-selective predation. A field study indicated that although male pairing success was greater for larger males in both species, pairing success increased throughout the range of variation in male size in the large species, whereas, in the small species, pairing success was low for smaller individuals, but roughly constant across intermediate to larger sizes. A laboratory mate choice experiment was consistent with the field study, finding that females of the large species exhibited a preference for larger males that was independent of absolute male size, but females of the small species were indifferent when choosing between males of intermediate to larger size. Species also differed in the direction of sexual size dimorphism in the field, with males being the larger sex in the large species but the smaller sex in the small species, a pattern consistent with the species differences in mate preference. Large gnathopod size relative to body size was associated with enhanced pairing success across all body sizes for the large species, but, in the small species, large gnathopod size enhanced pairing success only in smaller males. Species differences in mating behavior appear consistent with change driven by differing forms of the interaction between sexual and natural 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

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andersson M (1994) Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Arnold SJ, Wade MJ (1984) On the measurement of natural and sexual selection: applications. Evolution 38:720–734

    Google Scholar 

  • Borowsky B (1984) The use of males’ gnathopods during precopulation in some gammaridean amphipods. Crustaceana 47:245–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Bousfield EL (1973) Shallow-water gammaridean Amphipoda of New England. Cornell University Press, Ithaca

    Google Scholar 

  • Burk T (1982) Evolutionary significance of predation on sexually signaling males. Fl Entomol 65:90–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper WE (1965) Dynamics and production of a natural population of a fresh-water amphipod, Hyalella azteca. Ecol Monogr 35:377–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Cothran R (2004) Precopulatory mate guarding affects predation risk in two freshwater amphipod species. Anim Behav (in press)

  • Edley MT, Law R (1988) Evolution of life histories and yields in experimental populations of Daphnia magna. Biol J Linn Soc 34:309–326

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards TD, Cowell BC (1992) Population dynamics and secondary production of Hyalella azteca (Amphipoda) in Typha stands of a subtropical Florida lake. J North Am Benthol Soc 11:69–79

    Google Scholar 

  • Emlen ST, Oring LW (1977) Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197:215–223

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Endler JA (1983) Natural and sexual selection on color patterns in poeciliid fishes. Environ Biol Fishes 9:173–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endler JA, Houde AE (1995) Geographic variation in female preferences for male traits in Poecilia reticulata. Evolution 49:456–468

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartnoll RG, Smith SM (1978) Pair formation and the reproductive cycle in Gammarus duebeni. J Nat Hist 12:501–511

    Google Scholar 

  • Harvey AW (1990) Sexual differences in contemporary selection acting on size in the hermit crab Clibanarius digueti. Am Nat 136:292–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Houde AE (1997) Sex, color, and mate choice in guppies. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Houde AE, Endler JA (1990) Correlated evolution of female mating preferences and male color patterns in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Science 248:1405–1408

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson JB, Basolo AL (2003) Predator exposure alters female mate choice in the green swordtail. Behav Ecol 14:619–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jormalainen V (1998) Precopulatory mate guarding in crustaceans: male competitive strategy and intersexual conflict. Q Rev Biol 73:275–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jormalainen V, Merilaita S (1995) Differential predation on sexes affects colour polymorphism of the isopod Idotea baltica (Pallas). Biol J Linn Soc 55:45–68

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokko H, Brooks R, McNamara JM, Houston AI (2002) The sexual selection continuum. Proc R Soc London B 269:1331–1340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kokkotis AT, McLaughlin JD (2002) Inter-specific head and body lengths of Hyalella (Amphipoda): criteria for starting and endpoints in experimental studies. Hydrobiologia 474:223–227

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lande R (1981) Models of speciation by sexual selection on polygenic traits. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 78:3721–3725

    Google Scholar 

  • Law R (1979) Optimal life histories under age-specific predation. Am Nat 114:399–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Partridge L, Endler JA (1987) Life history constraints on sexual selection. In: Bradbury JW, Andersson MB (eds) Sexual selection: testing the alternatives. Wiley, New York, pp 265–277

    Google Scholar 

  • Pickard DP, Benke AC (1996) Production dynamics of Hyalella azteca (Amphipoda) among different habitats in a small wetland in the southeastern USA. J North Am Benthol Soc 15:537–550

    Google Scholar 

  • Promislow DEL, Montgomerie R, Martin TE (1992) Mortality costs of sexual dimorphism in birds. Proc R Soc London B 247:203–210

    Google Scholar 

  • Real LA (1990) Search theory and mate choice. I. Models of single sex discrimination. Am Nat 136:376–405

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson BW, RW Doyle (1985) Trade-off between male reproduction (amplexus) and growth in the amphipod Gammarus lawrencianus. Biol Bull 168:482–488

    Google Scholar 

  • Schluter D (1988) Estimating the form of natural selection on a quantitative trait. Evolution 42:849–861

    Google Scholar 

  • Shuster SM, Wade MJ (2003) Mating systems and strategies. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Sokal RR, Rohlf FJ (1995) Biometry, 3rd edn. Freeman, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Sparkes TC, Keogh DP, Haskins KE (2000) Female resistance and male preference in a stream-dwelling isopod: effects of female molt characteristics. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 47:145–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strong DR Jr (1972) Life history variation among populations of an amphipod (Hyalella azteca). Ecology 53:1103–1111

    Google Scholar 

  • Strong DR Jr (1973) Amphipod amplexus, the significance of ecotypic variation. Ecology 54:1383–1388

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor BE, Gabriel W (1992) To grow or not to grow: optimal resource allocation for Daphnia. Am Nat 139:248–266

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trail PW, Adams E (1989) Active mate choice at cock-of-the-rock leks: tactics of sampling and comparison. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 25:283–292

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Underwood AJ (1997) Experiments in ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward PI (1988) Sexual selection, natural selection, and body size in Gammarus pulex (Amphipoda). Am Nat 131:348–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA (1994a) Size-biased predation and the evolution of prey life histories: a comparative study of freshwater amphipod populations. Ecology 75:2104–2117

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA (1994b) The functional basis of body size differences between Hyalella (Amphipoda) species. J Freshwater Ecol 9:159–168

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA (1995a) Determinants of reproductive success in freshwater amphipod species differing in body size and life history. Anim Behav 50:353–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA (1995b) Predator community composition and patterns of variation in life history and morphology among Hyalella (Amphipoda) populations in southeast Michigan. Am Midl Nat 133:322–332

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA (2000) Selection on a sexually dimorphic trait in two ecotypes of Hyalella amphipods (Amphipoda: Hyalellidae). Am Midl Nat 143:212–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA (2002) Tradeoff between competitive ability and antipredator adaptation in a freshwater amphipod species complex. Ecology 83:129–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA, Cothran RD (2004) Similarity and differentiation in life history and morphology among sympatric cryptic species in an amphipod species complex. Freshwater Biol 49:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA, Skelly DK, and Werner EE (1996) Mechanisms creating community structure across a freshwater habitat gradient. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 27:337–363

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wellborn GA, Cothran R, Bartholf S (2005) Life history and allozyme diversification in regional ecomorphs of the Hyalella azteca (Crustacea: Amphipoda) species complex. Biol J Linn Soc (in press)

  • Wen YH (1993) Sexual dimorphism and mate choice in Hyalella azteca (Amphipoda). Am Midl Nat 129:153–160

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson L (2002) SYSYAT 10.2. SYSYAT, Chicago, Ill.

  • Witt JDS, Hebert PDN (2000) Cryptic species diversity and evolution in the amphipod genus Hyalella within central glaciated North America: a molecular phylogenetic approach. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 54:687–698

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zuk M, Kolluru GR (1998) Exploitation of sexual signals by predators and parasitoids. Q Rev Biol 73:415–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank Rickey Cothran, Trish Schwagmeyer, and anonymous reviewers for insightful comments that improved the manuscript. Research was supported by the National Science Foundation (DEB 98–15059).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA

    Gary A. Wellborn & Suzanne E. Bartholf

Authors
  1. Gary A. Wellborn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Suzanne E. Bartholf
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gary A. Wellborn.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wellborn, G.A., Bartholf, S.E. Ecological context and the importance of body and gnathopod size for pairing success in two amphipod ecomorphs. Oecologia 143, 308–316 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1786-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-004-1786-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation