DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Sex-specific effects on postcopulatory sexual selection and sexual conflict in a sex-role reversed pipefish

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Male pregnancy occurs in syngnathid fishes, a group that includes sea dragons, seahorses, and pipefishes. Females give eggs to their mates and males carry the developing offspring in a placenta-like structure called the brood pouch. The investigators recently showed that, in the Gulf pipefish, the male resources used during pregnancy are differentially invested, with more resources devoted to broods from attractive females. These results raise many questions regarding the mechanism underlying this phenomenon, which will be addressed in this project. Breeding experiments will be conducted to investigate male and female effects on offspring survivorship in the Gulf pipefish and to explore the interaction between pre-mating mate preference and post-mating resource investment by males. Offspring survivorship is expected to be determined mainly by males and that male perception of mate quality is the cue used to adjust resource investment in progeny. By utilizing a sex-role reversed species, in which females compete for mating access to males, basic principles of sexual selection theory, which has largely been developed in species with normal sex roles, will be tested. The results of this project will provide an in-depth understanding of the relative roles of pre- and post-mating sexual selection in the evolution of complex traits, such as male pregnancy. The project will involve undergraduates and outreach to elementary school children, as well as a collaboration with the Dallas World Aquarium to promote public awareness of scientific research on syngnathid fishes.