Abstract
The elkhorn sculpinAlcichthys alcicornis spawns and subsequently copulates, and the eggs are then cared for by the male. DNA fingerprinting was used to determine the paternity of males for the clutches guarded by them. When a female was mated with 4 males in succession in aquaria, males did not fertilize the eggs spawned just before copulation unless the female was unimpregnated but fathered the eggs spawned by the female later. In the field, near the end of the breeding season, males were genetically unrelated to the clutches in their territories. We concluded that males guard non-kin eggs for the opportunity to copulate and to fertilize the future clutches of their mates.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Assem, J. van den 1967 Territory in the threespined sticklebackGasterosteus aculeatus L.Behaviour (Suppl.)16: 1–164.
Baylis, J.R. 1981 The evolution of parental care in fishes, with reference to Darwin's rule of male sexual selection.Env. Biol. Fish. 6: 223–251.
Berghe, E.P. van den 1988 Piracy as an alternative reproductive tactic for males.Nature 334:697–698.
Blumer, L.S. 1979 Male parental care in the bony fishes.Quart. Rev. Biol. 54: 149–161.
Clutton-Brock, T.H. 1991 The evolution of parental care. Princeton University Press.
Costanz, G.D. 1985 Allopaternal care in the tessellated darter,Etheostoma olmstedi (Pisces: Percidae).Env. Biol. Fish. 14: 175–183.
Gross, M.R. & E.L. Charnov 1980 Alternative male life histories in bluegill sunfish.Proc. the Nat. Acad. Sci. the USA 77: 6937–6940.
Gross, M.R. & R.C. Sargent 1985 The evolution of male and female parental care in fishes.Am. Zool. 25: 807–822.
Gross, M.R. & R. Shine 1981 Parental care and mode of fertilization in ecotothermic vertebratesEvolution 35: 775–793.
Inoue, M., A. Takenaka, S. Tanaka, R. Kominami & O. Takenaka 1990 Paternity discrimination in a Japanese macaque group by DNA fingerprinting.Primates 31: 563–570.
Jeffreys, A.J., V. Wilson & S.L. Thein 1985 Hypervariable ‘minisatellite’ regions in human DNA.Nature 314:67–73.
Keenleyside, M.H.A. 1972 Intraspecific intrusions into nests of spawning longear sunfish (Pisces: Centrarchidae).Copeia 1972: 272–278.
Koya, Y., K. Takano & H. Takahashi 1993 Ultrastructural observations on sperm penetration in the egg of elkhorn sculpin,Alcichthys alcicornis, showing internal gametic association.Zool. Sci. 10: 93–101.
Morris, D. 1952 Homosexuality in the tenspined stickleback (Pygosteus pungitius L.).Behaviour 4: 233–261.
Munehara, H. 1988 Spawning and subsequent copulating behavior of elkhorn sculpinAlcichthys alcicornis in an aquarium.Japan. J. Ichthyol. 35: 358–364.
Munehara, H., H. Okamoto & K. Shimazaki 1990 Paternity estimated by isozyme variation in the marine sculpinAlcichthys alcicornis (Pisces: Cottidae) exhibiting copulation and paternal care.J. Ethol. 8: 21–24.
Munchara, H., K. Takano & Y. Koya 1989 Internal gametic association and external fertilization in the elkhorn sculpin,Alcichthys alcicornis.Copeia 1989: 673–678.
Munehara, H., K. Takano & Y. Koya 1991 The little dragon sculpinBlespias cirrhosus: Another case of internal gemetic association and external fertilization.Japan. J. Ichthyol. 37: 391–394.
Pierotti, R. 1980 Spite and altruism in gulls.Am. Nat. 115: 290–300.
Ragland, H.C. & E.A. Fischer 1987 Internal fertilization and male parental care in the scalyhead sculpin,Artedius harringtoni.Copeia 1987: 1059–1062.
Rowland, W.J. 1979 Stealing fertilizations in the four-spine stickleback,Apeltes quadracus.Am. Nat. 114: 602–604.
Thresher, R. 1985 Brood-directed parental aggression and early brood loss in the coral reef fish,Acanthochromis polyacanthus (Pomacentridae).Anim. Behav. 33: 897–907.
Werren, J.H., M.R. Gross & R. Shine 1980 Paternity and the evolution of male parental care.J. Theoret. Biol. 82: 619–631.
Yanagisawa, Y. 1985 Parental strategy of the cichlid fishPerissodus microlepis, with particular reference to intraspecific brood ‘farming out’.Env. Biol. Fish. 12: 241–249.
Yanagisawa, Y. & H. Ochi 1986 Step-fathering in the anemonefishAmphiprion clarkil: a removal study.Anim. Behav. 34: 1769–1780.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
About this article
Cite this article
Munehara, H., Takenaka, A. & Takenaka, O. Alloparental care in the marine sculpinAlcichthys alcicornis (Pisces: Cottidae): Copulating in conjunction with paternal care. J. Ethol. 12, 115–120 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350056
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02350056