Male Territory Swamping in a Lek-like Mating System Alters Courtship Success in a Fish Spawning Aggregation

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Male Territory Swamping in a Lek-like Mating System Alters Courtship Success in a Fish Spawning Aggregation Terry J. Donaldson1* 1 University of Guam Marine Laboratory, United States Many reef fish species that form spawning aggregations utilize a lek-like mating system in which males establish temporary courtship territories that they defend against rival males while attracting females to spawn. At a resident spawning aggregation site located at Finger Reef, Guam, male Cheilinus trilobatus (Labridae) holding territories along the outer edge of the site experience significantly greater courtship success compared with males holding territories within the site’s interior. Males holding edge territories are always successful in defending these territories from intruding males, even when they are engaged in courtship. Recently, however, increases in the number of males present at the spawning aggregation site have resulted in an increase in the number of territory intrusions during courtship periods. These intrusions “swamp” a normally successful male’s territory and make defense difficult. Multiple intruders not chased away or simply returning after being chased then court and spawn with females that arrive within the territory. Costs to the territory holder include lost courtship opportunities because of territorial interactions that interrupt courtship and reduced reproductive success because intruding males court successfully with females that visit the male’s territory and deprive him of the opportunity to do so. Acknowledgements None References None Keywords: Courtship, fish, Labridae, Reproduction, wrasse Conference: XVI European Congress of Ichthyology, Lausanne, Switzerland, 2 Sep - 6 Sep, 2019. Presentation Type: Oral Topic: ECOLOGY AND LIFE CYCLES Citation: Donaldson TJ (2019). Male Territory Swamping in a Lek-like Mating System Alters Courtship Success in a Fish Spawning Aggregation. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XVI European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.07.00007 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Jun 2019; Published Online: 14 Aug 2019. * Correspondence: Prof. Terry J Donaldson, University of Guam Marine Laboratory, Guam, United States, tdonaldson@triton.uog.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Terry J Donaldson Google Terry J Donaldson Google Scholar Terry J Donaldson PubMed Terry J Donaldson Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.