Earlier sex change in infected individuals of the protogynous reef fish<Emphasis Type="Italic"> Thalassoma bifasciatum</Emphasis> |
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Authors: | Email author" target="_blank">Lukas?Sch?rerEmail author Dita?B?Vizoso |
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Institution: | (1) Laboratoire de Parasitologie Evolutive—CNRS UMR 7103, Université Pierre et Marie Curie 7, Quai Saint Bernard—Case 237, 75252 Paris, Cedex 05, France;(2) Département de Biologie, Unité d Ecologie et Evolution, Université de Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 10, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland;(3) Present address: Institute of Zoology and Limnology, University of Innsbruck, Technikerstrasse 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria |
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Abstract: | Sex allocation theory for sequential hermaphrodites predicts the size at which an individual should change sex, given the different relationships between individual size and reproductive success in the two sexes. We studied a host-parasite system where the myxozoan Kudoa ovivora infects the ovaries of the reef fish Thalassoma bifasciatum, a protogynous sequential hermaphrodite. The parasite sporulates in the host s eggs and renders them infertile. It is thus expected to reduce the female s reproductive success, and could thereby influence host sex change. We present data from marked fish we observed in the field over 4 months. The data suggest that females infected with Kudoa ovivora have a lower reproductive success, change sex earlier and at a smaller size than uninfected females. These results are in agreement with predictions from sex allocation theory, and provide the first example of a possible parasitic influence on the sex allocation of its host.Communicated by P. Heeb |
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Keywords: | Sex change Sequential hermaphrodite Sex allocation Size-advantage model Host-parasite interaction |
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