Are nest characters of importance when choosing a male in the fifteen-spined stickleback (Spinachia spinachia)? |
| |
Authors: | S Östlund-Nilsson |
| |
Institution: | Department of Evolutionary Biology, Uppsala University, Norbyv?gen 18B, 75236 Uppsala, Sweden, SE
|
| |
Abstract: | Male fifteen-spined sticklebacks (Spinachia spinachia) build their nests by wrapping epiphytic algae around macroalgae and securing them with secretional threads. In this study,
I show that female fifteen-spined stickleback prefer males which have built their nests above the surrounding vegetation.
High-located nests are safer, because they are less likely to attract egg-predators such as shore crabs (Carcinus maenas). Thus, I found that shore crabs more rapidly find eggs in nests built close to the bottom than in nests well above the it.
Moreover, male-male competition could be an additional explanation as to why males build nests high up. Thus, my field results
suggest that the closer the males were to a neighbour, the higher they built. Larger males were also found to have larger
territories but male size did not correlate with the height of the nest above the surrounding vegetation. Females showed no
preference for nest size, regardless of the presence of egg-predators. However, they tended to choose nests that had no egg-predators
in the vicinity over nests with egg-predators close by. Female choosiness for certain nest characters may provide one explanation
for the evolution of male care in this species.
Received: 29 December / 1999 Revised: 18 April 2000 / Accepted: 28 May 2000 |
| |
Keywords: | Fifteen-spined stickleback Spinachia spinachia Female choice Nest Characters |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|