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Paternity analysis of two male mating tactics in the fiddler crab, Uca mjoebergi

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Abstract

The fiddler crab Uca mjoebergi mates both underground in male-defended burrows and on the surface near female-defended burrows. The reproductive tract of Uca species facilitates last-male precedence, suggesting that males that do not guard-mated females are likely to gain very little paternity if the female re-mates with another male. Here, we test the reproductive success of burrow and surface matings using paternity analysis. We found that 100 % of the females that mated in burrows extruded a clutch of eggs. Furthermore, we show conclusively, for the first time in a fiddler crab species, that last-male sperm precedence results in the majority of the female’s eggs being fertilised by the burrow-mated male. In contrast, surface matings resulted in significantly fewer females extruding eggs (5.6 %). Paternity analysis also revealed that more than half of the clutches from burrow-mated females showed low levels of extra-pair paternity from previous matings. Although multiple matings appear common in U. mjoebergi, burrow-mated males that guard females are guaranteed a successful mating with extremely high rates of assured paternity. Surface matings therefore appear to be an opportunistic tactic that may increase male reproductive success in a highly competitive environment.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Leon Smith for invaluable help with the PCR analysis. This research was funded by the ARC (grant number S65140M1) to PRYB and a student research grant from the Research School of Biology to LTR. We also thank John Christy for comments that greatly improved this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia

    Leeann T. Reaney, Golo Maurer, Patricia R. Y. Backwell & Celeste C. Linde

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  1. Leeann T. Reaney
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  2. Golo Maurer
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  3. Patricia R. Y. Backwell
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  4. Celeste C. Linde
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Correspondence to Celeste C. Linde.

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Communicated by M. Elgar

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Reaney, L.T., Maurer, G., Backwell, P.R.Y. et al. Paternity analysis of two male mating tactics in the fiddler crab, Uca mjoebergi . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 66, 1017–1024 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-012-1349-9

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