Mate choice in a hermaphrodite: you won't score with a spermatophore

Abstract

Sexual selection has played a major role in shaping the wide variety of mating patterns found in species with separate sexes, but little is known about its effects on simultaneous hermaphrodites. However, many hermaphrodites possess complex reproductive systems and mating behaviour is often elaborate, suggesting that some form of mate assessment takes place. We found that the marine slug Aeolidiella glauca, a simultaneous hermaphrodite with reciprocal external sperm transfer via spermatophores, shows a unique mate choice behaviour by avoiding mating with conspecifics already carrying a spermatophore received during the previous mating. Current mating status did not seem to affect this behaviour, because both slugs that had mated 2–3 days before our mate choice trials and slugs that had been isolated for 4–6 weeks avoided spermatophore-carrying partners. There are two obvious reasons why slugs should avoid recently mated partners. First, they may reduce the risk of getting a partner depleted in self-sperm. Second, the risk of sperm competition may be decreased. Histological investigations of sperm reserves suggest that sperm depletion did not influence our mate choice experiments. Most slugs had sufficient sperm stored for spermatophore production. Therefore, the most likely explanation for A. glauca's peculiar mate choice is that, by avoiding a recently mated partner, a sperm donor may reduce its risk of being subjected to sperm competition.