Factors affecting aggressive behaviour of spawning migratory males towards mature male parr in masu salmon Oncorhynchus masou.
This study examined whether dominant migratory males (adopting fighter tactics) of the masu salmon Oncorhynchus masou would more aggressively attack large mature male parr (adopting sneaker tactics) as large mature male parr are expected to have the potential to cause a greater decrease in fertilization success. The frequency of aggressive behaviour was not related to the body size of males, and it increased with the frequency of interactions with mature male parr. The fertilization success of mature male parr was much lower than migratory males, and no relationship was observed between fertilization success and aggressive behaviour. The low fertilization success of mature male parr, despite infrequent aggressive behaviour by migratory males, indicates that there might be little benefit for migratory males to attack mature male parr more aggressively according to their body size.
Watanabe
M
M
Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University, N9 W9, Sapporo 060-0809, Japan. masahiro.watanabe80@gmail.com
Maekawa
K
K
D000374:Aggression; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D008297:Male; D017683:Oncorhynchus / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D012930:Social Dominance