On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer
How much of a fitness benefit is obtained by dominant males of external fertilizers from releasing ejaculates in synchrony with female egg-release when engaging in sperm competition, and what is the most important sperm trait for paternity in these situations? The Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) i...
Published in: | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2015
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 https://doaj.org/article/9d9559b6957c46609fa9392925cf1fcc |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:9d9559b6957c46609fa9392925cf1fcc 2023-05-15T14:30:12+02:00 On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer Torvald Blikra Egeland Geir eRudolfsen Jarle Tryti Nordeide Ivar eFolstad 2015-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 https://doaj.org/article/9d9559b6957c46609fa9392925cf1fcc EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 https://doaj.org/article/9d9559b6957c46609fa9392925cf1fcc Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 3 (2015) Reproductive Behavior sperm competition costly sperm production delayed ejaculation ejaculate characteristics loaded raffle Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 2022-12-31T15:05:48Z How much of a fitness benefit is obtained by dominant males of external fertilizers from releasing ejaculates in synchrony with female egg-release when engaging in sperm competition, and what is the most important sperm trait for paternity in these situations? The Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is an external fertilizer experiencing intense male-male competition over reproductive opportunities including sperm competition. To compensate for their disadvantage the sneaker males, which often spawn out of synchrony with the female, produce more and faster sperm than the guarding males. We used controlled in vitro fertilization trials with experimentally produced dominant and subordinate, sneaker males to test what effect relative synchrony in gamete release, sperm quality (i.e., motility and velocity) and sperm quantity have on a male’s fertilization success in pair-wise sperm competitions. When the sneaker males released ejaculates after the guarding male there was no overall difference in fertilization success. The quality (i.e., motility and velocity) of a male’s sperm relative to that of the competing male was the best predictor of male fertilization success regardless of their mating tactic and spawning synchrony. The relative number of sperm cells also had an effect on fertilization success, but mainly when the dominant and sneaker male ejaculated synchronously. Our close imitation of natural sperm competition in charr shows that the sneaker males of external fertilizing species may fully compensate for their disadvantaged mating role by producing ejaculates of higher quality - an adjustment strangely not met by dominants. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic charr Arctic Salvelinus alpinus Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 3 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Reproductive Behavior sperm competition costly sperm production delayed ejaculation ejaculate characteristics loaded raffle Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
spellingShingle |
Reproductive Behavior sperm competition costly sperm production delayed ejaculation ejaculate characteristics loaded raffle Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 Torvald Blikra Egeland Geir eRudolfsen Jarle Tryti Nordeide Ivar eFolstad On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
topic_facet |
Reproductive Behavior sperm competition costly sperm production delayed ejaculation ejaculate characteristics loaded raffle Evolution QH359-425 Ecology QH540-549.5 |
description |
How much of a fitness benefit is obtained by dominant males of external fertilizers from releasing ejaculates in synchrony with female egg-release when engaging in sperm competition, and what is the most important sperm trait for paternity in these situations? The Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is an external fertilizer experiencing intense male-male competition over reproductive opportunities including sperm competition. To compensate for their disadvantage the sneaker males, which often spawn out of synchrony with the female, produce more and faster sperm than the guarding males. We used controlled in vitro fertilization trials with experimentally produced dominant and subordinate, sneaker males to test what effect relative synchrony in gamete release, sperm quality (i.e., motility and velocity) and sperm quantity have on a male’s fertilization success in pair-wise sperm competitions. When the sneaker males released ejaculates after the guarding male there was no overall difference in fertilization success. The quality (i.e., motility and velocity) of a male’s sperm relative to that of the competing male was the best predictor of male fertilization success regardless of their mating tactic and spawning synchrony. The relative number of sperm cells also had an effect on fertilization success, but mainly when the dominant and sneaker male ejaculated synchronously. Our close imitation of natural sperm competition in charr shows that the sneaker males of external fertilizing species may fully compensate for their disadvantaged mating role by producing ejaculates of higher quality - an adjustment strangely not met by dominants. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Torvald Blikra Egeland Geir eRudolfsen Jarle Tryti Nordeide Ivar eFolstad |
author_facet |
Torvald Blikra Egeland Geir eRudolfsen Jarle Tryti Nordeide Ivar eFolstad |
author_sort |
Torvald Blikra Egeland |
title |
On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
title_short |
On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
title_full |
On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
title_fullStr |
On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
title_sort |
on the relative effect of spawning asynchrony, sperm quantity and sperm quality on paternity under sperm competition in an external fertilizer |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 https://doaj.org/article/9d9559b6957c46609fa9392925cf1fcc |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic charr Arctic Salvelinus alpinus |
genre_facet |
Arctic charr Arctic Salvelinus alpinus |
op_source |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, Vol 3 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-701X 2296-701X doi:10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 https://doaj.org/article/9d9559b6957c46609fa9392925cf1fcc |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2015.00077 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
3 |
_version_ |
1766304090436927488 |