title: Single-male paternity in coelacanths.
abstract: Latimeria chalumnae, a 'living fossil,' is of great scientific interest, as it is closely related to the aquatic ancestors of land-living tetrapods. Latimeria show internal fertilization and bear live young, but their reproductive behaviour is poorly known. Here we present for the first time a paternity analysis of the only available material from gravid females and their offspring. We genotype two L. chalumnae females and their unborn brood for 14 microsatellite loci. We find that the embryos are closely related to each other and never show more than three different alleles per locus, providing evidence for a single father siring all of the offspring. We reconstruct the father's genotype but cannot identify it in the population. These data suggest that coelacanths have a monogamous mating system and that individual relatedness is not important for mate choice.
authors.affiliation: University of Bochum, Evolutionary Ecology and Biodiversity of Animals, Universitätsstr 150, D-44780 Bochum, Germany.
authors.forename: Kathrin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lampert
authors.forename: Katrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blassmann
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hissmann
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schauer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Shunula
authors.forename: Zahor
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: el Kharousy
authors.forename: Benjamin P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Ngatunga
authors.forename: Hans
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fricke
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schartl
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D005306:Fertilization; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics*; D056426:Genetic Loci; D005838:Genotype; D040582:Inheritance Patterns; D008297:Male; D012098:Reproduction / Q000502:physiology*; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology