Abstract
Using comparative phylogenetic analysis, we analyzed the evolution of male alternative reproductive tactics (MARTs) in ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). Numerous independent origins for each type of MART (involving sneaker males, female mimics, pirates, and satellite males) indicate that these behaviors have been highly labile across actinopterygiian evolution, consistent with a previous notion that convergent selection in fishes can readily mold the underlying suites of reproductive hormones into similar behaviors. The evolutionary appearance of MARTs was significantly correlated with the presence of sexually selected traits in bourgeois males (P = 0.001) but not with the presence of male parental care. This suggests that MARTs often arise from selection on some males to circumvent bourgeois male investment in mate monopolization, rather than to avoid male brood care per se. We found parsimony evidence for an evolutionary progression of MARTs wherein sneaking is usually the evolutionary precursor to the presumably more complex MARTs of female mimicry and cooperative satellite behavior. Nest piracy appears not to be part of this evolutionary progression, possibly because its late onset in the life cycle of most ray-finned fishes reduces the effects of selection on this reproductive tactic.
Highlights
Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) display a great diversity of male reproductive tactics, probably more so than any other vertebrate clade
Due to diligent field observations and molecular genetic appraisals of parentage, documentations of species-specific male alternative reproductive tactics (MARTs) abound in the literature, and the hormonal and genetic controls of these reproductive tactics are becoming increasingly clarified in laboratory experiments (Borg 1994; Foran and Bass 1998, 1999; Bass and Grober 2001; Knapp 2004; Fitzpatrick et al 2005)
Of the 16 families that showed diversity in male mating behavior, the vast majority of this diversity was comprised of different alternative mating tactics, or suites of tactics in different confamilial species
Summary
Ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) display a great diversity of male reproductive tactics, probably more so than any other vertebrate clade These behaviors range from mass group spawning (where scramble competition and sperm competition are major determinants of male fitness) to distinct pairings between one or a few females and particular territorial or ‘‘bourgeois’’ males (where the effectiveness of mate appropriation has a key impact on male fitness). Effective MARTs can break the monopoly that bourgeois males otherwise hold on fitness-enhancing resources (Taborsky 1994, 1998) These MART behaviors, three of which are parasitic and one cooperative, have been extensively cataloged and reviewed (Taborsky 1994, 1998, 2001; Gross 1996), and the definitions used throughout this analysis are from Taborsky (1994). We test for correlated evolution between MARTs and two other possibly relevant reproductive traits (male parental care, and sexual selection as assessed by the presence of male ornaments)
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