Superfetation increases total fecundity in a viviparous fish regardless of the ecological context

Abstract

Superfetation is the ability of females to simultaneously carry multiple broods of embryos at different developmental stages. This is an uncommon reproductive strategy that has evolved independently several times in viviparous fishes. The ecological conditions that favor higher degrees of superfetation (the presence of more simultaneous broods) still remain unclear. In this study we tested hypotheses about the potential effects of three particular ecological factors (water flow velocity, population density, and adult mortality) on superfetation. We used data on six populations of one fish species from the family Poeciliidae (Poeciliopsis baenschi) and a multimodel inference framework to test these hypotheses. We found no clear associations between the degree of superfetation and these ecological factors. Instead, we found a positive relationship between the total number of embryos carried by females and superfetation. Females increased their total fecundity as they overlapped more broods and this pattern was independent of the particular ecological conditions. Thus, in P. baenschi superfetation may facilitate a greater reproductive output. In addition, this positive relationship between total number of embryos and superfetation was stronger in small- and medium-sized females, whereas large females produced few or no simultaneous broods regardless of their total fecundity. The observed lack of association between superfetation and ecological variables is noteworthy because previous studies on other congeneric species have found that superfetation may vary as a function of water flow velocity or food availability. Our results indicate that the effect of particular selective factors on the degree of superfetation may differ among closely related species.