Egg Competition and Cryptic Male Choice in a Pipefish

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Lay summary for proposal number 0315937Egg competition and cryptic male choice in a pipefish: The growing synergy between molecular biology and animal behavior has opened new doors in the study of behavioral ecology. In particular, genetic markers have great potential to provide insights into sperm competition and cryptic female choice, a process by which females affect the fate of sperm within their reproductive tracts. These processes are important, because our interpretation of patterns of mating depends upon the details of events that happen at the level of sperm and eggs after mating. This project is designed to contribute to our knowledge of the important phenomenon of cryptic gamete choice. A system in which gametes are large and easily observable eliminates many of the barriers to progress in the study of gamete competition, and the broad-nosed pipefish, Syngnathus typhle, in which males become pregnant, provides such a system. This project will address two major questions. First, is egg competition or choice a major source of variation in success during mating in pipefish? Second, is the outcome of egg competition determined primarily by males or females? These studies, facilitated by well-tested genetic markers and laboratory-based breeding experiments, will definitively resolve whether or not cryptic male choice appears to be an important mechanism in this species.