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JPR Advance Access originally published online on January 8, 2009
Journal of Plankton Research 2009 31(4):389-397; doi:10.1093/plankt/fbn130
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Morphological correlates of mating frequency and clutch size in wild caught female Eudiaptomus graciloides (Copepoda: Calanoida)

Abdurhman Kelil Ali1, Raul Primicerio2, Ivar Folstad1,*, Ståle Liljedal1 and Jørgen Berge3

1 Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of Tromsø Institute for Biology, 9037 Tromsø, Norway 2 Norwegian College of Fishery Science, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway 3 The University Centre in Svalbard 9171, Longyearbyen, Norway

* CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: ivar.folstad{at}ib.uit.no

Received on July 6, 2008; accepted on December 14, 2008


  Abstract

A high proportion of female diaptomid copepods mate several times and more often than needed for each clutch production. Our understanding of the adaptive significance of this behaviour and the underlying process is limited. Theory suggests that polyandry may arise when whatever benefits females accrue from multiple mating outweigh the costs or, alternatively, that males manipulate females against the latter's best interests. We examined the relationship between female body size, clutch size and mating frequency, as indicated by the number of spermatophores in a wild caught copepod Eudiaptomus graciloides. Large females carried more eggs than small females. However, the frequency of mating (i.e. the number of spermatophores) was negatively related to the size of the female. Moreover, mating frequency was negatively related to the length of the antennules and positively related to the length of the furca. Diaptomid females are known to actively resist pursuing males by an escape reaction and their mobility and escape abilities are positively related to body size and antennule length. Consequently, large females might reject males more easily and hence mate less frequently than do small females. Our results suggest that multiple mating in E. graciloides is maintained by sexual conflict over mating rate, and that females are manipulated by males into additional matings against their interests.

Corresponding editor: Roger Harris


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