An experimental test of mate choice for red carotenoid coloration in the marine copepod Tigriopus californicus
An experimental test of mate choice for red carotenoid coloration in the marine copepod Tigriopus californicus
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DOI：
10.1111/eth.12976
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发表时间：
2020-03
期刊：
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
M. Powers;G. Hill;R. Weaver
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
M. Powers;G. Hill;R. Weaver
据推测，色彩缤纷的装饰品是为了响应性选择而进化的，它是个体品质的诚实信号，可以提供有关潜在配偶的信息。红色类胡萝卜素着色在不同的群体中很常见，并且在一些脊椎动物类群中，红色着色是一种性选择特征，具有最红色装饰物的交配是首选。尽管在无脊椎动物中广泛存在，但在这些类群的择偶过程中是否评估红色类胡萝卜素的着色尚不清楚。海洋桡足类 Tigriopus californicus 由于类胡萝卜素虾青素的积累而呈现红色。先前对桡足类动物的研究表明，虾青素可以防止紫外线辐射和外源性暴露，并且类胡萝卜素的产生对外部压力敏感。由于红色的颜色具有条件依赖性，我们假设虎纹虎会在择偶时将其用作标准。为了检验这一假设，我们进行了试验，其中雄性在野生型红色（富含类胡萝卜素的藻类饮食）或白色（缺乏类胡萝卜素的酵母饮食）的雌性之间进行选择。为了控制饮食差异并隔离类胡萝卜素着色的影响，我们还向雄性和恢复红色的雌性喂食添加了类胡萝卜素的酵母饮食。我们发现野生型红色雌性比白色雌性更受青睐。然而，在控制饮食后，我们发现恢复红色的雌性被避免了。我们的观察结果并不支持雄性桡足类动物在择偶时更喜欢雌性桡足类动物的类胡萝卜素颜色的假设。我们假设类胡萝卜素以外的藻类衍生化合物在配偶选择中发挥作用。桡足类的红色似乎是一种条件依赖性特征，在交配过程中不会被评估。
Colorful ornaments are hypothesized to have evolved in response to sexual selection for honest signals of individual quality that provide information about potential mates. Red carotenoid coloration is common in diverse groups, and in some vertebrate taxa, red coloration is a sexually selected trait whereby mates with the reddest ornaments are preferred. Despite being widespread among invertebrates, whether red carotenoid coloration is assessed during mate choice in these taxa is unclear. The marine copepod Tigriopus californicus displays red coloration from the accumulation of the carotenoid astaxanthin. Previous research on copepods has shown that astaxanthin provides protection from UV radiation and xenobiotic exposure and that carotenoid production is sensitive to external stressors. Because of the condition dependency of the red coloration, we hypothesized that Tigriopus would use it as a criterion during mate choice. To test this hypothesis, we conducted trials in which males chose between females that were wild‐type red (carotenoid‐rich algae diet) or white (carotenoid‐deficient yeast diet). To control for dietary differences and to isolate the effect of carotenoid coloration, we also presented males with restored‐red females fed a carotenoid‐supplemented yeast diet. We found that wild‐type red females were weakly preferred over white females. After controlling for diet, however, we found that restored‐red females were avoided. Our observations do not support the hypothesis that male copepods prefer the carotenoid coloration of females during mate choice. We hypothesize that algal‐derived compounds other than carotenoids play a role in mate choice. Red coloration in copepods appears to be a condition‐dependent trait that is not assessed during mating.