Nest defense in the face of cuckoldry: evolutionary rather than facultative adaptation to chronic paternity loss

Holger Zimmermann,Karoline Fritzsche,Aneesh P H Bose,Jonathan M Henshaw,Lawrence Makasa,Kristina M Sefc,Cyprian Katongo,Taylor Banda

doi:10.1186/s12862-019-1528-7

Abstract

BackgroundRaising unrelated offspring is typically wasteful of parental resources and so individuals are expected to reduce or maintain low levels of parental effort when their parentage is low. This can involve facultative, flexible adjustments of parental care to cues of lost parentage in the current brood, stabilizing selection for a low level of paternal investment, or an evolutionary reduction in parental investment in response to chronically low parentage.ResultsWe studied parental care in Variabilichromis moorii, a socially monogamous, biparental cichlid fish, whose mating system is characterized by frequent cuckoldry and whose primary form of parental care is offspring defense. We combine field observations with genetic parentage analyses to show that while both parents defend their nest against intruding con- and hetero-specifics, males and females may do so for different reasons. Males in the study group (30 breeding pairs) sired 0–100% (median 83%) of the fry in their nests. Males defended less against immediate threats to the offspring, and more against threats to their territories, which are essential for the males’ future reproductive success. Males also showed no clear relationship between their share of defense and their paternity of the brood. Females, on the other hand, were related to nearly all the offspring under their care, and defended almost equally against all types of threats.ConclusionOverall, males contributed less to defense than females and we suggest that this asymmetry is the result of an evolutionary response by males to chronically high paternity loss in this species. Although most males in the current study group achieved high parentage in their nests, the average paternity in V. moorii, sampled across multiple seasons, is only about 55%. We highlight the importance and complexity of studying nest defense as a form of parental care in systems where defense may serve not only to protect current offspring, but also to ensure future reproductive success by maintaining a territory.

Highlights

Raising unrelated offspring is typically wasteful of parental resources and so individuals are expected to reduce or maintain low levels of parental effort when their parentage is low
We show that V. moorii parents face greater intrusion pressure from territory competitors than from brood predators
When we looked at patterns of paternity and defence within the current study group, we did not find the expected positive correlation between an individual male’s brood paternity and his share of brood defense, which would indicate a facultative adjustment of paternal investment into the current brood

Summary

Introduction

Raising unrelated offspring is typically wasteful of parental resources and so individuals are expected to reduce or maintain low levels of parental effort when their parentage is low. This can involve facultative, flexible adjustments of parental care to cues of lost parentage in the current brood, stabilizing selection for a low level of paternal investment, or an evolutionary reduction in parental investment in response to chronically low parentage. A parent’s optimal investment into care should depend on the value of the current brood relative to the parent’s expected future reproductive success [3]. A facultative reduction in parental investment is one way to mitigate

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Conclusion