Sperm size of African cichlids in relation to sperm competition

By S. Balshine, B. Leach, F. Neat, Noam Y. Werner, R. Montgomerie. 2001

120 citations recorded by the source corpus.

We compared pairs of closely related taxa of cichlid fishes from Lake Tanganyika to examine the relationship between sperm size and the presumed intensity of sperm competition. In contrast to previous reports of relatively short sperm in polygamous fishes across a variety of taxa, we found that polygamous cichlids had significantly longer sperm than their closest monogamous relatives. In addition, sperm length was significantly related to relative testis size (controlling for body size and phylogeny). The site of fertilization may also be correlated with sperm length, as species that fertilize in the female’s buccal cavity had significantly shorter sperm than those that fertilized eggs on the substrate. Assuming that relatively large testes and polygamous mating are indicative of more intense sperm competition, these results indicate that sperm length is related to the intensity of sperm competition in this clade of cichlids, as has been found previously in insects, birds, and mammals.

Subfields: Ecology, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics, Social Psychology

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/8a72043a4314a6763576387fe875af35ba9111f9

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In Ecology

In Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics

Citations in the corpus

Sperm investment and alternative mating tactics in bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus) (2003, background): “It has been suggested that larger sperm may move faster and be more competitive (Balshine et al., 2001; LaMunyon and Ward, 1999; Stockley et al., 1997; for review, see Birkhead and Møller, 1998).”
Parental investment, sexual selection and sex ratios (2008, background): “For example, a typical evolutionary response of males to female promiscuity is increased investment in the testes (e.g. Stockley et al., 1997) or sperm (e.g. Balshine et al., 2001).”
Intraspecific variation of testis size and sperm length in the yellow-pine chipmunk (Tamias amoenus): implications for sperm competition and reproductive success (2003, background): “Comparative analyses have found a positive (Gage 1994; Briskie et al. 1997; Balshine et al. 2001), negative (Stockley et al.”
Sperm length, sperm storage and mating system characteristics in bumblebees (2003, background): “Correlations between sperm length and female mating frequency have been found in comparative studies of lepidopterans (Gage and Cook, 1994; Morrow and Gage, 2000), birds (Briskie and Montgomerie, 1992) and mammals (Gomendio and Roldan, 1991), but not in bats (Hosken, 1997) and fish (Stockley et al.,”