title: Female freshwater crayfish adjust egg and clutch size in relation to multiple male traits.
abstract: Females may invest more in reproduction if they acquire mates of high phenotypic quality, because offspring sired by preferred partners may be fitter than offspring sired by non-preferred ones. In this study, we tested the differential maternal allocation hypothesis in the freshwater crayfish, Austropotamobius italicus, by means of a pairing experiment aimed at evaluating the effects of specific male traits (body size, chelae size and chelae asymmetry) on female primary reproductive effort. Our results showed that females laid larger but fewer eggs for relatively small-sized, large-clawed males, and smaller but more numerous eggs for relatively large-sized, small-clawed males. Chelae asymmetry had no effects on female reproductive investment. While the ultimate consequences of this pattern of female allocation remain unclear, females were nevertheless able to adjust their primary reproductive effort in relation to mate characteristics in a species where inter-male competition and sexual coercion may mask or obscure their sexual preferences. In addition, our results suggest that female allocation may differentially affect male characters, thus promoting a trade-off between the expression of different male traits.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biologia Animale, Università degli Studi di Pavia, p.zza Botta 9, 27100 Pavia, Italy. galeozot@unipv.it
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Galeotti
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubolini
authors.forename: Gianluca
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fea
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ghia
authors.forename: Pietro A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Nardi
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gherardi
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fasola
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003400:Astacoidea / Q000502:physiology*; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D052284:Clutch Size / Q000502:physiology*; D003068:Coercion; D005260:Female; D005618:Fresh Water; D008297:Male; D010063:Ovum / Q000502:physiology; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*