Energy expenditure for mouthbrooding in a cichlid fish |
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Authors: | Wolfgang Mrowka Bernd Schierwater |
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Affiliation: | (1) Zoologisches Institut der Technischen Universität Braunschweig, Pockelsstraße 10a, D-3300 Braunschweig, Federal Republic of Germany |
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Abstract: | Summary Energy costs of mouthbrooding were investigated in the East African maternal mouthbrooder Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor by measuring rates of oxygen consumption. Mothers with their brood in the mouth expended 15.7% more energy than mothers without their brood and 13.8% more than starving nonreproductive controls. After subtracting the energy expenditure of the brood, the excess is reduced to 4.7% and 3.2%, respectively, a difference that is not statistically significant. By contrast, feeding nonreproductive females expended more than twice as much energy as the other groups. We conclude that mouthbrooding is a low-cost strategy profiting from investments made during the preceding nonreproductive phase. The implications for the evolution of mouthbrooding are discussed within the context of ecological constraints. |
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