Patterns of brood division and an absence of behavioral plasticity in a neotropical passerine

Studies of parental behavior in various habitats provide an opportunity to gain insight into how different environments may mold strategies of parental care. Brood division by parents has been hypothesized to occur facultatively within and among species. Brood division occurs when each parent cares for specific offspring within a brood. We studied brood division in a neotropical passerine, the western slaty antshrike (Thamnophilus atrinucha). Our results present a unique picture of a highly specialized example of avian brood division. Division was a fixed behavioral pattern in the population studied: all broods divided by fledging and remained divided during the entire post-fledging period. Brood division before fledging, a previously unreported phenomenon, occurred in 40% of nests observed. Parents that preferentially fed a certain offspring (defined as their focal offspring) in the nest fed the same individual after fledging. Each parent fed only its focal offspring in broods of one and two. The male parent cared for the heavier offspring and the first offspring to leave the nest. Siblings were segregated spatially during the time of highest predation risk. These observations suggest that a consistently high risk of predation on offspring has favored initial spatial segregation and inflexibility of brood division behavior in this species. Factors other than predation risk alone may explain the observed patterns of long-term, perfect brood division. Because high predation is common and relatively predictable in the tropics, selection for fixed brood division may be stronger in tropical birds than in the temperate zone.     

Upper temperature tolerances of some European molluscs. I Tellina fabula and T. tenuis

The upper temperature tolerances of two European species of Tellina from populations near the northern and southern limits of their geographical range are compared by means of median lethal temperature (LT₅₀), and median burial temperature (BT₅₀) determination for periods of exposure up to 96 h. The influence of previous acclimation temperature, and salinity within a limited range, on these determinations is also considered. T. fabula Gmelin, which is found in deeper water throughout its range, shows a lower thermal tolerance than T. tenuis da Costa. Both species display a significant effect of previous acclimation temperatures, the effect on the burrowing responses being greater than that shown by LT₅₀, and in both species the thermal tolerance of individuals from Mediterranean populations is greater than that of individuals from North Atlantic populations.     

How does salinity tolerance influence the distributions of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Brachionus plicatilis</Emphasis> sibling species?

Environmental salinity is important in defining Brachionus plicatilis sibling species distributions. However, while salinity influences distributions, sibling species often co-exist. Three different mechanisms potentially account for the partial co-occurrence of sibling species: (1) siblings have differing salinity tolerances that partially overlap; (2) siblings physiological tolerances may be commonly broad, but relatively small differences in tolerances differentiate distributions via interactions e.g. competition; or (3) siblings distributions may be influenced by physical factors other than salinity. Here, we assess the extent of salinity tolerance in three B. plicatilis sibling species (B. plicatilis 6TUR, B. plicatilis IOM and B. rotundiformis 6TOS) by measuring population growth rate (μ, day⁻¹) and egg development time in response to salinity (5–60‰) and salinity fluctuations (≤ Δ40‰). Sibling species were identified by analysis of the mitochondrial COI gene, and salinity responses were compared by regression analysis. Responses differed significantly between siblings, although the broad trends were similar. Positive growth occurred at all salinities, and highest growth rates ranged between 0.93 and 1.08 day⁻¹ at 16–18‰. Rapid changes in salinity reduced growth rates, but net mortality occurred only in one treatment (100% mortality on transfer from 10 to 40‰). Egg development time was largely invariant with salinity except for B. plicatilis IOM and where rotifers were transferred from 30 to 60‰. We indicate that several siblings are similarly euryhaline and tolerate salinity fluctuations. Undoubtedly, wide tolerances in B. plicatilis are adaptations to ephemeral and seasonally variable habitats. Given common broad salinity tolerances, it is unlikely that the differential distributions of sibling species are a direct result of physiological constraints. Instead, we illustrate using a simple model that subtle differences in physiological tolerances may have important impacts on interactions between sibling species, which may in turn influence distributions.     

Competition with flies promotes communal breeding in the burying beetle,Nicrophorus tomentosus

Communal breeding through nest-sharing may benefit cooperating individuals indirectly, in increased inclusive fitness, or directly, when environmental constraints reduce the fitness of solitary breeders. Burying beetles provide extensive parental care and can breed either in pairs or in larger groups of unrelated males and females. Parentage of communally-reared broods is usually shared but is skewed in favor of the individuals of each sex that provide longer care. Females provide care longer than males, and two females are more likely to remain together in the brood chamber than two males are. Flies and other burying beetles are the major competitors for carcasses and this study suggests that it is competition with flies that promotes communal breeding inNicrophorus tomentosus On medium-size carcasses (35–40 g) the presence or absence of oviposition by flies had a significant effect on the size of the brood reared, and on large carcasses (55–60 g) the number of beetles present, two or four, had a significant effect on brood size. On both medium and large carcasses, pairs rearing broods on flyblown carcasses had fewer young than pairs on clean carcasses or foursomes on flyblown carcasses. There was a strong trend for an interaction effect between number of beetles and competition with flies (Table 1). Duration of parental care was not affected by competition with flies except for that of the first male to depart, which provided care longer on flyblown carcasses (Table 2). Pairs and foursomes were equally able to defend the carcass and brood from conspecific intruders and from larger intrudingNicrophorus orbicollis (Table 3).     

Brood reduction in response to manipulated brood sizes in the common swift (Apus apus)

Following a brood size manipulation experiment on the common swift (Apus apus) in which different levels of parental effort were created, brood reduction occurred in all five nests manipulated to four chicks and in two of the five manipulated to three young. This provided an opportunity for looking in detail at the parental investment decisions concerning allocation strategies between parent and young during the process of brood reduction. The data recorded here were analysed on a visit-by-visit basis regarding changes in parental and chick body masses, the mass of prey delivered and the estimated mass of parental self-feeding. The results show that food delivery rates did not increase in proportion to the number of chicks in the broods. This reduction in delivery rates per chick resulted in lower chick masses and ultimately in the death of one or more chicks in the larger broods. The resulting low parental body masses for adult birds feeding larger broods suggested that these parents could not have raised all their young without risking their own survival. There was a tendency for parents from nests that experienced brood reduction to feed themselves instead of allocating most of the food gathered to the young. After brood reduction, parents regained lost body mass and their young fledged at masses only slightly lower than normal. The differential allocation decisions regarding parental self-feeding which resulted in brood reduction were largely responsible for keeping the parents in good enough condition to care for the surviving nestlings. Therefore, this study clearly demonstrates that brood reduction can operate through the differential allocation of food between parent and young in a way that can have adaptive consequences for the survival of parents and their young. Correspondence to: T.L.F. Martins     

The function of hatching asynchrony in the blue-footed booby

The blue-footed booby (Sula nebouxii) commonly hatches two eggs 4 days apart; then the senior (first-hatched) chick aggressively dominates the other and sometimes kills it. Two hypotheses explaining the function of the hatching interval were tested by creating broods with synchronous hatching: the facultative brood reduction hypothesis of Lack (1954) and the sibling rivalry reduction hypothesis of Hahn (1981). The results contradicted most predictions of both hypotheses: synchronous broods formed an aggressive hierarchy similarly to asynchronous broods (controls), and subordinate chicks grew poorly (Fig. 1) and died frequently, similarly to junior chicks in control broods. However, compared with synchronous broods, asynchronous broods showed less aggression (Fig. 2), diminished food allocation to subordinate chicks (Fig. 3) and less total food consumption (30% fewer feeds at age 0–10 days). These behavioral comparisons took into account the different ages of chicks in different treatments. The results suggest that natural asynchrony makes brood reduction more efficient and decreases the costs of sibling aggression to parents, in terms of their future survival or fecundity, as proposed by Mock and Ploger (1987). Further, in exaggeratedly asynchronous broods (8-day hatch interval) junior chicks suffered more aggression (Fig. 4) and grew more slowly than junior chicks in control broods. This result supports the hypothesis of optimal hatch asynchrony of Mock and Ploger (1987).     

Brood defence in the great tit (Parus major): the influence of life-history and habitat

Summary We examined the extent to which parental investment, as measured by brood defence, is determined by life-historical selection in a shortlived bird, the great tit (Parus major). Pairs tending first (n=20) and second (n=21) broods in the same Scots pine woods in 1983 were used to test predictions of a cost/benefit model of brood defence based on the species' average demography in coniferous forest. Furthermore, the differences in demography between pine and deciduous forest permitted us to test whether habitat-specific life-history would affect the seasonal pattern of defence. In the model, benefit was defined as the brood's potential contribution to a parent's fitness, and the cost as the potential loss if the defender dies in the act of defence. Univariate and multivariate procedures were applied to six measures of defence response to a live owl (Glaucidium perlatum) plus a taped mobbing chorus. Results proved three of the model's predictions to be false. In coniferous forest, neither the overall strength nor the individual variance of defence behaviour differed among first and second broods, nor was there any consistent difference in defence strength between pairs living in coniferous (n=54) or deciduous (n=84) forest as revealed by comparisons within each brood. These failures could be reconciled with the model by assuming that selection in the past had acted via the average demography of both types of habitat. The model received direct support from defence strength increasing with age of young and, more forcefully, becoming more influenced by brood size in second broods, regardless of habitat.A difference in the strength of defence by the male and female suggests two more functions of behaviour: In first broods, the male risks more than the female as measured by five of six variables. This suggests that defence is facultatively linked to the need for territorial protection from predators all the year round. In the female's presence, the male, taking an additional risk, approaches the owl to half the distance of that of a single, though paired, male, suggesting an additional, social role of defence behaviour.Taken together, anti-predator defence in the great tit serves to protect the brood, the home range and, in the male, the female mate. The magnitude of the benefits envisaged varies among the sexes.     

Allometric constraints and variables of reproductive effort in brachyuran crabs

Allometric relationships of reproductive output were compared in 20 species from 7 families of brachyuran crabs from the east and west coasts of North America, using regression analysis of log reproductive parameters versus log body weight. Comparisons of crabs spanning 4 orders of magnitude in body weight indicated that female body size was the principal determinant of reproductive output: 95% of the variance in brood weight, 79% of the variance in the number of eggs per brood, 63% of the variance in annual brood weight, and 74% of the variance in annual fecundity were explained by body weight. Brood weight exhibited an isometric constraint to about 10% of body weight. Allometric limitations on space available for yolk accumulation in the body cavity appeared to be the main constraint on brood size. Ovum size increased significantly, but only slightly, with increasing body size. There was a significant trade-off between ovum size and the number of eggs per brood. There was no significant relationship between the number of broods per year and body size. The number of eggs per brood was significantly better than brood weight as a predictor of the number of broods produced per year by a species, indicating that demographic pressure on fecundity rather than energetic considerations is the primary selective mechanism influencing annual reproductive effort. Each of the 7 families of crabs exhibited trends toward distinct patterns for the suite of co-adapted reproductive traits. However, no interspecific reproductive patterns were apparent with respect to the variables of feeding type, salinity tolerance, habitat, and geographic range represented by the 20 species.     

Costs and benefits of brood desertion in female kentish plovers,Charadrius alexandrinus

Female kentish plovers Charadrius alexandrinus typically desert their broods after the chicks hatch, i.e. 1–4 weeks before the chicks fledge or become independent. In this paper we investigate the costs and benefits of desertion for females. Desertion incurs a cost for females: following desertion chick survival in broods is lower (0.95 +- 0.02 day^–1) than before the female deserts (0.98 +- 0.01 day^–1). We investigated several possible causes for reduced brood survival by comparing characteristics of broods before and after desertion (controlling for differences in brood age). After desertion males increased the time they spent foraging and they tended to reduce time spent brooding chicks. Increased mortality of chicks may occur in deserted broods because following desertion (1) males spend less time alert in vigilance behaviour than before desertion, (2) they attend the chicks from greater distances, and (3) they show greater distraction display distances (in response to human intruders). Growth or development of chicks, measured by weight gain and tarsus length, was not different before and after desertion. Females gain two potential benefits from desertion: (1) they may remate and produce a second brood within the same breeding season or (2) they may enhance their probability of surviving to breed in a subsequent season. At least 27% of female kentish plovers that deserted remated and renested in the same season in this study. In contrast, we found no evidence that brood desertion increased the survival of females: there was no difference in local survival rate (return rate) for females deserting before or after 6 days brood age. These results clearly demonstrate that female kentish plovers that desert their offspring prior to fledging incur costs, but we suggest that there is a trade-off with the potential benefits gained by remating and making a second breeding attempt in the same season.     

Different salinity tolerance mechanisms in Atlantic and Chesapeake Bay conspecific oysters: glycine betaine and amino acid pool variations

Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) collected in 1989 from several sites within the Chesapeake Bay have narrower salinity tolerances than conspecific oysters collected in 1989 from several Atlantic coast sites (Georgia to Cape Cod). The basis of this physiological difference appears to be the biochemical mechanisms that control cellular osmolality following salinity stress. When adapted to the same salinity, the amino acid pools of both gill and adductor muscles of Atlantic oysters are larger than those of Bay oysters and different in composition. The Atlantic oyster tissues rely primarily on taurine for salinity tolerance, while the Bay oyster tissues have relatively less taurine, depending instead upon alanine, glycine and proline to adapt to high salinity. In addition, Atlantic oyster gill and adductor have 10 to 25 times the glycine betaine concentrations of these tissues from Bay oysters, depending upor the salinity of acclimation. The betaine concentration varies with salinity in Atlantic oysters, but does not change in Bay oysters. The results suggest that these biochemical differences are the basis of the narrower salinity tolerance in Bay oysters. The biochemical differences may reflect genetic differences between Bay and Atlantic oysters.     

Common goldeneyes adjust maternal effort in relation to prior brood success and not current brood size

Parental investment theory predicts that parental effort should be related to the reproductive value of the current brood. This depends on both the number of young and the survival prospects of each of them. Thus parents may provide more care to larger broods either because of (1) the direct effect of brood size per se on reproductive value (the “brood size” hypothesis) or because (2) past mortality, reflected in current brood size, predicts future mortality of the brood and hence its reproductive value (the “brood success” hypothesis). Earlier studies have not attempted to distinguish between these alternatives. We tested the hypotheses in the precocial, nidifugous common goldeneye Bucephala clangula, a species with uniparental female care. Maternal effort was measured as the time spent by the female in rearing the brood. We found that brood size itself is not associated with maternal effort, but that females modify their maternal effort according to the mortality already experienced by the brood, supporting the prediction of the brood success hypothesis. We also found that brood mortality varied considerably between broods and that previous mortality predicts future mortality within broods, basic assumptions of the brood success hypothesis. Received: 30 January 1996 / Accepted after revision: 27 October 1996     

Food-dependent benefits of hatching asynchrony in American kestrels Falco sparverius

Food supply and hatching asynchrony were manipulated for 90 broods of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) during 1989–1991. We measured the growth and mortality of nestlings within four treatment groups (asynchronous, synchronous, food-supplemented, unsupplemented) to test the brood reduction hypothesis of Lack (1947, 1954). Fledging success did not differ between synchronous and asynchronous broods when food was poor but consistent with the brood reduction hypothesis, nestlings died at a younger age in asynchronous broods. When food was supplemented, mortality did not occur in the synchronous broods but youngest nestlings still died in asynchronous nests despite apparently adequate food for the brood. Oldest nestlings in asynchronous broods fledged with a greater mass than their younger siblings, also consistent with Lack's hypothesis. Average nestling quality in synchronous broods was very dependent on food levels. Synchronous young that were supplemented were, on average, the heaviest of any treatment group but young from unsupplemented synchronous broods were the lightest. Overall, patterns of mortality and growth for kestrels support the brood reduction hypothesis when food is limited, but not when it is abundant. This food-dependent benefit of asynchrony in the nestling period is a prerequisite for facultatively adjusted hatching spans during laying.     

Effects of salinity and possible interactions with temperature and pH on growth and photosynthesis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Halophila johnsonii</Emphasis> Eiseman

The effects of salinity, temperature, and pH variations on growth, survival, and photosynthetic rates of the seagrass Halophila johnsonii Eiseman were examined. Growth and survival responses to salinity were characterized by aquarium experiments in which plants were exposed to seven different salinity treatments (0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 psu) during 15 days. Photosynthetic behavior was assessed for short-term salinity exposures (1 or 20 h) by incubation experiments in biological oxygen demand (BOD) bottles and by measuring photosynthesis versus irradiance (PI) responses in an oxygen electrode chamber. In the bottle experiments the possible effects of interactions between salinity and temperature (15, 25, and 35°C) or pH (5, 6, 7, and 8.2) were also examined. Growth and survival of H. johnsonii were significantly affected by salinity, with maximum rates obtained at 30 psu. Salinity also altered the parameters of the PI curves. Light-saturated photosynthesis (P _max) and the photosynthetic efficiency at subsaturating light (α) increased significantly up to an optimum of 40 psu, decreasing again at the highest salinities. Dark respiration rates and compensating irradiance (I _c) showed minimum values at 40 and 50 psu, while light-saturation point (I _k) was maximum at 30–50 psu. An interaction between salinity and temperature was not found although an increase of temperature alone produced an increase in α, P _max, respiration rates, and I _k. An interaction between salinity and pH was only found in the P _max response: P _max increased with pH=5 at 30 psu. In addition, reducing the pH increased α significantly. In the BOD bottles experiment a significant reduction in the dark respiration with decreasing pH was observed, but the opposite trend was observed in the photosynthetic rate. These results suggest that the endemic seagrass H. johnsonii could be negatively affected by hypo- or hypersalinity conditions, although salinity changes did not seem to alter the tolerance of this species to other environmental factors, such as temperature or pH.     

The dynamics of brood desertion among communally breeding females in the treehopper, Publilia concava

In species that exhibit extended parental care, females sometimes lay eggs communally in order to redistribute the costs of offspring care. Communal egg-laying often involves redundancy in female effort, such that the number of females contributing to reproduction is more than is needed to provide adequate parental care. As a result, a subset of females will often abandon the communal brood, with the time of departure ranging from immediate abandonment after egg-laying (brood parasitism) to delayed abandonment with prolonged care (cooperative breeding). In this paper I approach the parental care dynamics of female-female broods as a desertion game similar to that of mate desertion in species with bi-parental care. I describe a field study of the insect Publilia concava (Hemiptera: Membracidae), a species that exhibits communal oviposition and a full range of egg guarding. This species exhibits full redundancy in female care, with no difference in survival between singly and doubly guarded broods. I find that double guarding is extremely rare in the population, with most communal broods having only one female guard. While this guard was usually the female that initiated the brood, these same females were more likely to abandon when secondary females arrived and when secondary females exhibited longer guarding durations. Paradoxically, the secondary females usually abandoned the broods they visited, resulting in up to 50% of broods with double abandonment. These unguarded broods suffered a 50% reduction in hatching success, reflecting an important risk for primary females that abandon egg masses to secondary females. Overall, P. concava exhibits desertion dynamics similar to mate desertion in vertebrates and it is likely that the theoretical work in this area will be useful for future work that addresses the allocation of parental care among communal breeders.     

Reproductive biology of the common shrimp Crangon crangon (Decapoda: Crangonidae) in the central Irish Sea

Aspects of the reproductive biology of the common shrimp Crangon crangon (L.) were studied in Port Erin Bay, Isle of Man, Irish Sea. Size at sexual maturity was determined from the proportions of ovigerous females and of females with maturing ovaries. The size at which 50% of females are mature is estimated (±95% confidence intervals) as 12.5±0.48 mm carapace length. Based on the proportions of ovigerous females and of mature females, the main breeding season was from January to June. Mean ovarian dry weights indicated two broods (winter and summer), with females bearing winter broods (WB) having higher gonad indices than those with summer broods (SB). WB females with non-eyed eggs and with eyed eggs differed in the regression of ovarian dry weight on carapace length, indicating preparation for laying a second brood. In both broods the moult stages of berried females were related to egg stage. Moulting will occur following the release of the brood. During embryonic development, mean egg length and egg volume were larger in all stages, and the mean dry weight of individual eggs of all stages heavier, in WB than in SB; there was no difference in egg number, however. Consequently, reproductive investment, the proportion of female weight devoted to egg production, was 67% higher in WB (0.20±0.04) than in SB (0.12±0.03). There is a significant effect of egg volume on brood weight, but not on egg number. In both broods, egg number was a negatively allometric function of female body size in non-eyed eggs and an isometric function of female body size in eyed eggs. Brood mortality during incubation was higher in SB (17%) than WB (10%). Differences in the reproductive variables and investment between the two broods of C. crangon are discussed in the light of reproductive strategies and life history.Communicated by J.P. Thorpe, Port Erin     

Need and nestmates affect begging in tree swallows

We conducted an experiment on nestling tree swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) to examine predictions from signalling models for the evolution of conspicuous begging behaviour. Specifically, we examined the relationship between (1) nestling begging intensity and hunger, (2) begging intensity and parental provisioning and (3) begging intensity and nestmate condition. Forty broods of 9-day-old nestlings were removed from their nests for 1 h and assigned to one of the following three treatments: (1) all nestlings in the brood deprived of food (n = 13), (2) all nestlings in the brood fed (n = 11) or (3) half the nestlings in the brood deprived and half fed (n = 16). Videotapes before and after the treatments showed that begging intensity increased in broods in which all of the nestlings had been deprived and decreased in broods in which all of the nestlings had been fed. Deprived nestlings in the half-and-half treatment did not change their begging intensity in response to treatment, while fed nestlings in this treatment group showed a decrease in begging intensity. Parent tree swallows increased their feeding rate to deprived broods and decreased their rate to fed broods. Within broods, parents decreased their feeding rate to fed nestlings, but showed no significant change in feeding to deprived nestlings. Our results suggest that begging intensity is influenced by hunger and that parents appear to respond to variation in begging intensity. The begging of nestmates also appears to influence begging independently of need. These results are consistent with predictions derived from signalling models of begging. Received: 20 June 1997 / Accepted after revision: 19 January 1998     

Melanin-based colorations signal strategies to cope with poor and rich environments

One hypothesis for the maintenance of genetic variation states that alternative genotypes are adapted to different environmental conditions (i.e., genotype-by-environment interaction G×E) that vary in space and time. Although G×E has been demonstrated for morphological traits, little evidence has been given whether these G×E are associated with traits used as signal in mate choice. In three wild bird species, we investigated whether the degree of melanin-based coloration, a heritable trait, covaries with nestling growth rate in rich and poor environments. Variation in the degree of reddish-brown phaeomelanism is pronounced in the barn owl (Tyto alba) and tawny owl (Strix aluco), and variation in black eumelanism in the barn owl and Alpine swift (Apus melba). Melanin-based coloration has been shown to be a criterion in mate choice in the barn owl. We cross-fostered hatchlings to test whether nestlings sired by parents displaying melanin-based colorations to different extent exhibit alternative growth trajectories when raised by foster parents in poor (experimentally enlarged broods) and rich (experimentally reduced broods) environments. With respect to phaeomelanism, barn owl and tawny owl offspring sired by redder parents grew more rapidly in body mass only in experimentally reduced broods. With respect to eumelanism, Alpine swift offspring of darker fathers grew their wings more rapidly only in experimentally enlarged broods, a difference that was not detected in reduced broods. These interactions between parental melanism and offspring growth rate indicate that individuals display substantial plasticity in response to the rearing environment which is associated with the degree of melanism: at least with respect to nestling growth, phaeomelanic and eumelanic individuals are best adapted to rich and poor environments, respectively. It now remains to be investigated why eumelanism and phaeomelanism have a different signaling function and what the lifelong consequences of these melanism-dependent allocation strategies are. This is important to fully appraise the role played by environmental heterogeneity in maintaining variation in the degree of melanin-based coloration.     

Differential effects of offspring condition-dependent signals on maternal care regulation in the European earwig

Parent–offspring conflict theory predicts the evolution of offspring solicitation signals that can influence the amount and/or the duration of parental investment. Short-term effects of offspring solicitation signals on parental food provisioning have been widely demonstrated, but persistent effects of offspring signals on the maintenance of parental care have been rarely studied. Also, the relation between the amount of care provided to the brood and how it is distributed among individual offspring within a brood is not well enough understood. Here, we investigated in the European earwig (Forficula auricularia) the effects of offspring condition-dependent chemical signals on the maintenance of maternal care among broods and the distribution of maternal food within broods. Mothers were isolated from their brood for 3 days and continuously exposed to chemical signals extracted from broods of experimentally manipulated nutritional state. After re-introducing mothers to their brood, a range of maternal behaviours were quantified. We found that earwig mothers groomed their offspring significantly more after exposure to chemical extract from high-food brood in comparison with mothers exposed to extract from low-food brood, which in turn displayed significantly more aggressive behaviour. Furthermore, we manipulated offspring individual nutritional condition within the brood to evaluate the effect of offspring state on the within-brood food distribution. Within broods, poorly fed individuals received significantly more food than well-fed individuals, probably due to scramble competition. These results show that earwig nymphs express multi-component condition-dependent signals and behaviours differentially affecting maternal care provisioned to the brood and the distribution of care within broods.     

Intraspecific brood adoption in convict cichlids : a mutual benefit

Summary Convict cichlids (Cichlasoma nigrofasciatum) are biparental, substrate brooding cichlid fish which have extended care of their eggs, larvae (wrigglers) and free-swimming young (fry). Field observations indicate that intraspecific brood adoption of fry occurs frequently under natural conditions. Of 232 broods 29% contained foreign fry and of 232 broods 15% were identified as fry donors. Foreign fry were usually of similar size to or smaller than the host brood fry. Experimental fry transfers showed that parents accept foreign fry smaller than their own but immediately reject or eat foreign fry larger than their own. A predation experiment showed that within a mixed brood, smaller fry are eaten more often than larger fry. Thus, accepting foreign fry may benefit parents through the dilution effect and through a differential predation effect. In comparison with intact families, broods from which the male parent was removed were less likely to reach independence, had fewer fry surviving to independence, and had a greater probability of having some fry transferred to neighbouring broods. We propose that intraspecific brood adoption in convict cichlids is mutually beneficial to the adult donors and recipients. Correspondence to: B.D. Wisenden     

Comparative study on the fate of the polychlorinated biphenyl 2,4,5,2′,4′,5′-hexachlorobiphenyl and the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon phenanthrene in flounder (Platichthys flesus), determined by liquid scintillation counting and autoradiography

The otolith microstructure of juvenile starry flounders (Platichthys stellatus) sampled from a monitored environment was examined for evidence of lunar periodicity. Three types of biweekly cycles were observed in all of the flounder otoliths; two of the cycles were correlated with a tidal modulation of the environment. Through a multiple regression model, much of the day-to-day variability in increment width could be related to daily variations in temperature, salinity and tidal mixing. My results suggest that a 15-d increment width cycle was entrained by the interaction of a 15-d tidal cycle with temperature and salinity. The same tidal cycle/temperature interaction probably produced a biweekly pattern of increment contrast. However, the presence of otolith checks formed at weekly and/or biweekly intervals could not be so explained, although checks were consistently formed on the new and full moons.