期刊
BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY
卷 12, 期 6, 页码 726-731出版社
OXFORD UNIV PRESS INC
DOI: 10.1093/beheco/12.6.726
关键词
Cichlidae; Lake Tanganyika; mating systems; sperm competition; sperm morphology; testes
We compared pairs of closely related taxa of cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika to examine the relationship between sperm size and the presumed intensity of sperm competition. In contrast to previous reports of relatively short sperm in polygamous fishes across a variety of taxa, we found that polygamous cichlids had significantly longer sperm than their closest monogamous relatives. In addition, sperm length was significantly related to relative testis size (controlling for body size and phylogeny). The site of fertilization may also be correlated with sperm length, as species that fertilize in the female's buccal cavity had significantly shorter sperm than those that fertilized eggs on the substrate. Assuming that relatively large testes and polygamous mating are indicative of more intense sperm competition, these results indicate that sperm length is related to the intensity of sperm competition in this clade of cichlids, as has been found previously in insects, birds, and mammals.
作者
我是这篇论文的作者
点击您的名字以认领此论文并将其添加到您的个人资料中。
推荐
暂无数据