DOCSLIB.ORG

Lecture 11 Mating Systems

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Lecture 11 Mating Systems Assignment 4 Assignment 4: Constructing an Ethogram and Hypotheses about Animal Behavior 1. The goal of this assignment is to have you apply your knowledge of behavioral ecology to behaviors that you personally observe. a. First, you will quantify behavioral observations using an ethogram. You will use your ethogram to construct a “behavior budget” that describes how often the animal performs each behavior. b. Second, you will generate a hypothesis about your behavioral observations and propose a way to experimentally test your hypothesis. Assignment 4 Example Ethogram from MacNulty 2007 Assignment 4 Assignment 4: Constructing an Ethogram and Hypotheses about Animal Behavior 5. Develop a hypothesis or set of hypotheses about one or more of the behaviors that you observed. The hypothesis should deal with a reason why the animal that you observed exhibited the behavior or behavioral budget that you documented. You should have both a null and alternative hypothesis. 6. Develop a hypothetical experiment or set of experiments that could be used to test your hypothesis. A good source of inspiration of possible experiments are the studies discussed in class. Note that your experiments should be feasible for one person to do with a budget of up to $10,000 (the budget of many graduate student projects) in the time frame of one year. Proposing to do a breeding experiment with elephant seals is not feasible because they are not easily manipulated. Love Darts in Snails and Slugs 1. During copulation, partners place large spermatophores in the spermatophore-receiving (SRO) organ of their partner. 2. The spermatophore is then digested in the SRO. Only ~0.1% of the spermatozoa escapes to where fertilization occurs. 3. Individuals shoot each other with love darts. The love dart is laced with hormones and increases the number of escaping spermatozoa from the SRO 4. By darting its partner, a snail can increase its chances of paternity. 5. The Japanese Euhadra subnimbosa uses its darts to stab its partner >3000 times during 22 min of ‘foreplay’ before copulation. Diversity in Love Darts Lesson: Sexual conflict can lead to diversification. Love Darts in Snails and Slugs 1. Darts have evolved multiple times, and have been lost multiple times. 2. Darting species may be locked in sexually antagonistic selection which leads to an arms race of defense/offense. a. SRO complexity correlates positively with dart shape (e.g. the presence of flanges). Hermaphroditic flatworm, Pseudobiceros bedfordi. Have two penises, which they fence with. Each tries to smear the other with sperm, but tries to avoid getting smeared. Hermaphroditic flatworm, Pseudobiceros bedfordi. St = areas with sperm Hermaphroditic flatworm, Pseudobiceros bedfordi. H = holes caused by sperm, Sc = Scars Hermaphroditic flatworm, Pseudobiceros bedfordi. * = Large hole where large amount of sperm hit Body then tore in two! Lessons 1. Sexual conflict can be costly. Can impose a large selective force. Can lead to partner manipulation. 2. Even hermaphrodites have different interests when mating. Each is trying to maximize its individual fitness. 3. Sexual antagonism can select for diversity in weapons and mating behaviors. Mediating the Conflict 1. Many hermaphrodites inseminate reciprocally. This “sperm trading” ensures reciprocity during mating. 2. Test: Create cheaters by vasectomizing one partner of hermaphroditic sea slugs (Study by Anthes, 2005) 3. Result: Partners of the cheaters were less likely to trade intromissions/inseminations, and were more likely to terminate a mating encounter. Further Reading on Wacky Mating Systems: Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to all Creation Lecture Outline: Mating Systems Diversity among species Basic Categories of Mating Systems and How they are determined by ecology. Diversity within species Alternative mating strategies and their evolution. Reminder: Assignment 2 is due on Wednesday Basic Categories of Mating Systems 1. Monogamy: A male and female form a pair bond (short or long term). Often both parents care for eggs/young. 2. Polygyny: A male mates with several females. Females mate with just one male. Usually female provides parental care. 3. Polyandry: A female mates with several males. Often the male provides parental care. 4. Promiscuity: Both males and females mate several times with different individuals. Either sex may care for the young. 5. Polygamy: a general term for when an individual of either sex has more than one mate. Ecological Theory of Mating System Evolution Emlen and Oring, 1977 1. Mating systems depend on the ability of a portion of the population to control the access of others to potential mates. 2. Multiple mates must be energetically defendable by individuals a. Even distribution of mates = little polygamy potential. b. Patchy distribution = high polygamy potential. Ecological Theory of Mating System Evolution Emlen and Oring, 1977 3. Benefits of defense must outweigh the costs. a. Energy spent defending or seeking mates comes at the cost of parental care. 4. Environmental factors determine the costs and benefits. For instance, how females are spaced. 5. Ecology constrains the degree to which sexual selection can operate. Monogamy 1. Sexual selection theory suggests that a male’s reproductive success is usually related to the number of females he inseminates. 2. Why monogamy? Hypotheses for Monogamy 1. Mate guarding hypothesis: Monogamy may be adaptive if a female left by the male would probably acquire another mate who would fertilize her eggs. 2. Mate guarding likely to occur if females are receptive after mating, widely scattered, and difficult to locate. 3. Example: Clown shrimp, females are widely dispersed, males spend weeks with a female. Hypotheses for Monogamy 1. Mate assistance hypothesis: Males stay with a single female to help rear their mutual offspring. 2. The additional offspring that survive due to paternal care may more than compensate the male for the chance to reproduce with other females. 3. Example: Seahorse Hippocampus whitei, pairs ignore any others of the opposite sex. The male’s pouch can only hold 1 clutch of eggs, so as long as his pouch is full he is maximizing his reproduction. 4. Example: Monogamous California mice, males help rear offspring. ~2 offspring born. With male: 1.5 on average survive. Without male: .6 on average survive. Hypotheses for Monogamy 1. Female enforced monogamy: Females attempt to block their partners’ polygynous moves in order to monopolize their parental assistance. 2. Example: Razorbills (a seabird), females attack their partner if they show interest in a neighbor. Monogamy 2. Example: Burying beetles. Male and female bury a mouse to feed offspring. Once buried, the male may release a pheromone to attract other females. His mate pushes him from his perch, reducing his ability to signal. (from Eggert and Skaluk, 1995). Social vs Genetic Monogamy 1. About 90% of all birds are socially monogamous: form long-term partnerships during a breeding system. a. Male birds (unlike many mammals) can increase fitness substantially by helping with eggs/nestlings. Mate assistance hypothesis. 2. In some birds social monogamy = genetic monogamy. Ex. Common loons and Florida scrub jays. 3. Many socially monogamous birds have extra pair copulations (EPCs). Not genetically monogamous. 4. EPCs benefit males by allowing him to sire offspring. Tradeoff is while he is gone, he gives up mate guarding. Females and EPCs 1. What do females gain from EPCs? 2. Good genes hypothesis: Gain good genes for offspring. a. Female tits seek EPCs if mated to an unattractive partner (ie the partner gets few EPCs). 3. Fertility insurance hypothesis: EPCs reduce risk of having infertile parter. Test = look at fertilization success. a. Gunnison’s praire dogs: Polyandrous females: pregnant 100% of time, monogamous females: pregnant 92% of the time. 3. More resources hypothesis: Mating with multiple males allows access to more resources. a. Dunnocks: Females seek out a subordinate mate. Will copulate 100s of times for a clutch of eggs. Both males help rear the offspring. Polyandry 1. Galapagos hawks: As many as 8 males may pair with a female, helping her rear a single offspring per breeding episode. a. Suitable breeding territories are scarce, males may cooperate to keep other males out, all males have an equal chance of fertilization. Polyandry 1. Spotted sandpipers a. Females fight other females for territories. b. A territory may attract more than one male who incubate a single female’s clutches. c. This “sex role reversal” could be due to female only being able to lay 4 eggs at a time. If resources are abundant, they need another mate to take care of another clutch. d. Food is often abundant. Female Defense Polygyny 1. Female defense polygyny: Females occur in defensible clusters, males compete for control of the clusters. 2. Examples: a. Male Greater Spear-Nosed Bats defend roosting females. Successful defenders may sire up to 50 offspring. Female Defense Polygyny b. A marine amphipod: Forms a house out of shells and pebbles. Males capture females and glue their houses to his! Resource Defense Polygyny 1. Resource defense polygyny: a. Females do not live together permanently. b. Male may become polygynous if he controls a rich patch of resources that the female’s visit 2. Examples: a. Male black-winged damselflies defend floating vegetation. Females mate with the male and lay eggs on the vegetation. Resource Defense Polygyny Example 2 a. African cichlid fish, Lamprologus callipterus. Need safe location for eggs. b. Female lays eggs in an empty snail shell, and guards them. c. Males collect shells, sometimes stealing them from rival males. Observed to collect up to 86 shells. Up to 14 females nesting on one male’s territory Testing Resource Defense Polygyny 1. Predicts that female distribution is controlled by key resources 2. Test = Manipulate the resources, see if females alter their locations. 3. Example: Dunnocks (a songbird), Davies and Lundberg a. Normally females search for food widely.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Seahorse Genome and the Evolution of Its Specialized
    OPEN ARTICLE doi:10.1038/nature20595 The seahorse genome and the evolution of its specialized morphology Qiang Lin1*§, Shaohua Fan2†*, Yanhong Zhang1*, Meng Xu3*, Huixian Zhang1,4*, Yulan Yang3*, Alison P. Lee4†, Joost M. Woltering2, Vydianathan Ravi4, Helen M. Gunter2†, Wei Luo1, Zexia Gao5, Zhi Wei Lim4†, Geng Qin1,6, Ralf F. Schneider2, Xin Wang1,6, Peiwen Xiong2, Gang Li1, Kai Wang7, Jiumeng Min3, Chi Zhang3, Ying Qiu8, Jie Bai8, Weiming He3, Chao Bian8, Xinhui Zhang8, Dai Shan3, Hongyue Qu1,6, Ying Sun8, Qiang Gao3, Liangmin Huang1,6, Qiong Shi1,8§, Axel Meyer2§ & Byrappa Venkatesh4,9§ Seahorses have a specialized morphology that includes a toothless tubular mouth, a body covered with bony plates, a male brood pouch, and the absence of caudal and pelvic fins. Here we report the sequencing and de novo assembly of the genome of the tiger tail seahorse, Hippocampus comes. Comparative genomic analysis identifies higher protein and nucleotide evolutionary rates in H. comes compared with other teleost fish genomes. We identified an astacin metalloprotease gene family that has undergone expansion and is highly expressed in the male brood pouch. We also find that the H. comes genome lacks enamel matrix protein-coding proline/glutamine-rich secretory calcium-binding phosphoprotein genes, which might have led to the loss of mineralized teeth. tbx4, a regulator of hindlimb development, is also not found in H. comes genome. Knockout of tbx4 in zebrafish showed a ‘pelvic fin-loss’ phenotype similar to that of seahorses. Members of the teleost family Syngnathidae (seahorses, pipefishes de novo. The H. comes genome assembly is of high quality, as > 99% and seadragons) (Extended Data Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Revlined Seahorse Dad Copy
    Diligent Dads In the wild animal world, there are a number of nurturing males, including the seahorse The lined seahorse gets its name from its vertical stripes. They can change colors to provide camouflage or denote mood. Photo credit: Linda De Volder By J. Morton Galetto, CU Maurice River When it comes to fathering, the animal world exhibits a spectrum from love ‘em and leave ‘em to champion surveillance. In honor of Father’s Day let’s discuss some superior dads. In the animal kingdom the emperor penguin male takes sole responsibility for incubating an egg. It is balanced on his feet which he shuffles along the ice of Antarctica for two months, enduring 125 mph winds and – 40 temperatures. Hundreds of huddling fathers bear this responsibility while their mates are at sea fattening-up. This story of dedication and endurance is powerful and heart-warming. Emperor penguins’ dedication leads them to be described as the #1 exemplary father in a multitude of articles. I highly recommend the 2005 film “March of the Penguins,” that documents this challenging fatherly devotion. In fact every dead-beat dad should be required to watch “March of the Penguins,” repeatedly, even if it doesn’t help. But our story is not about parental neglect; it is about celebrating great dads. Let’s bring it home a bit, since most of us will never visit Antarctica and certainly not in 125 mph winds. We’ll explore some local creatures and focus on one unexpected twist in fathering. In past articles we have discussed some dutiful parents of the avian variety.
    [Show full text]
  • Courtship Behavior in the Dwarf Seahorse, Hippocampuszosterae
    Copeia, 1996(3), pp. 634-640 Courtship Behavior in the Dwarf Seahorse, Hippocampuszosterae HEATHER D. MASONJONESAND SARA M. LEWIS The seahorse genus Hippocampus (Syngnathidae) exhibits extreme morpho- logical specialization for paternal care, with males incubating eggs within a highly vascularized brood pouch. Dwarf seahorses, H. zosterae, form monoga- mous pairs that court early each morning until copulation takes place. Daily behavioral observations of seahorse pairs (n = 15) were made from the day of introduction through the day of copulation. Four distinct phases of seahorse courtship are marked by prominent behavioral changes, as well as by differences in the intensity of courtship. The first courtship phase occurs for one or two mornings preceding the day of copulation and is characterized by reciprocal quivering, consisting of rapid side-to-side body vibrations displayed alternately by males and females. The remaining courtship phases are restricted to the day of copulation, with the second courtship phase distinguished by females pointing, during which the head is raised upward. In the third courtship phase, males begin to point in response to female pointing. During the final phase of courtship, seahorse pairs repeatedly rise together in the water column, eventually leading to females transferring their eggs directly into the male brood pouch during a brief midwater copulation. Courtship activity level (representing the percentage of time spent in courtship) increased from relatively low levels during the first courtship phase to highly active courtship on the day of copulation. Males more actively initiated courtship on the days preceding copulation, indicating that these seahorses are not courtship-role reversed, as has previously been assumed.
    [Show full text]
  • Marine Protected Species Identification Guide
    Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Marine protected species identification guide June 2021 Fisheries Occasional Publication No. 129, June 2021. Prepared by K. Travaille and M. Hourston Cover: Hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata). Photo: Matthew Pember. Illustrations © R.Swainston/www.anima.net.au Bird images donated by Important disclaimer The Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development and the State of Western Australia accept no liability whatsoever by reason of negligence or otherwise arising from the use or release of this information or any part of it. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development Gordon Stephenson House 140 William Street PERTH WA 6000 Telephone: (08) 6551 4444 Website: dpird.wa.gov.au ABN: 18 951 343 745 ISSN: 1447 - 2058 (Print) ISBN: 978-1-877098-22-2 (Print) ISSN: 2206 - 0928 (Online) ISBN: 978-1-877098-23-9 (Online) Copyright © State of Western Australia (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development), 2021. ii Marine protected species ID guide Contents About this guide �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������1 Protected species legislation and international agreements 3 Reporting interactions ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������4 Marine mammals �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5 Relative size of cetaceans �������������������������������������������������������������������������5
    [Show full text]
  • Multiple Mating and Its Relationship to Alternative Modes of Gestation in Male-Pregnant Versus Female-Pregnant fish Species
    Multiple mating and its relationship to alternative modes of gestation in male-pregnant versus female-pregnant fish species John C. Avise1 and Jin-Xian Liu Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697 Contributed by John C. Avise, September 28, 2010 (sent for review August 20, 2010) We construct a verbal and graphical theory (the “fecundity-limitation within which he must incubate the embryos that he has sired with hypothesis”) about how constraints on the brooding space for em- one or more mates (14–17). This inversion from the familiar bryos probably truncate individual fecundity in male-pregnant and situation in female-pregnant animals apparently has translated in female-pregnant species in ways that should differentially influence some but not all syngnathid species into mating systems char- selection pressures for multiple mating by males or by females. We acterized by “sex-role reversal” (18, 19): a higher intensity of then review the empirical literature on genetically deduced rates of sexual selection on females than on males and an elaboration of fi multiple mating by the embryo-brooding parent in various fish spe- sexual secondary traits mostly in females. For one such pipe sh cies with three alternative categories of pregnancy: internal gesta- species, researchers also have documented that the sexual- tion by males, internal gestation by females, and external gestation selection gradient for females is steeper than that for males (20). More generally, fishes should be excellent subjects for as- (in nests) by males. Multiple mating by the brooding gender was fl common in all three forms of pregnancy.
    [Show full text]
  • THE 7TH ANNUAL May 3, 2019 MAY 3, 2019
    THE 7TH ANNUAL May 3, 2019 MAY 3, 2019 Schedule 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Keynote Speaker 3:00 - 3:55 p.m. Poster Session I 4:05 - 5:00 p.m. Poster Session II Awards for Best poster presentations will Be announced immediately following the poster sessions. Symposium Organizers: Dr. Eric Freundt, Dr. Simon Schuler, Olivia Crimbly, and Devon Grey. The CNHS Undergraduate Research Symposium provides an opportunity for students within the College of Natural and Health Sciences to present their current or recently completed research projects in a poster format. The research may have been performed as part of a course, an Honors Research Fellowship, or an independent project conducted with a faculty mentor. ABstracts for all poster presentations are included in this booklet and are listed in alphabetical order based on the presenting author’s last name. The Symposium was initiated in 2013 through a generous grant from the UT Board of Fellows. Further financial support from the Office of the Dean of CNHS, the Department of Biology and Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Physics is also acknowledged. Finally, the organizers would like to thank all presenters, faculty mentors, and faculty judges for their participation in this event. 1 Keynote Speaker Florida Red Tide: What's new, what's true, and what you should know. Dr. Cynthia Heil Director, Red Tide Institute Mote Marine LaBoratory 2 Poster Session I * Denotes authors presenting at symposium (1) Isolation of Marine Sediment-Derived Bacteria that (8) Does Response of Weekly Strength Training Volume on Produce Biologically Active Metabolites Muscular Hypertrophic Adaptations in Trained GaBriella AlBert*1and Dr.
    [Show full text]
  • Guide to Theecological Systemsof Puerto Rico
    United States Department of Agriculture Guide to the Forest Service Ecological Systems International Institute of Tropical Forestry of Puerto Rico General Technical Report IITF-GTR-35 June 2009 Gary L. Miller and Ariel E. Lugo The Forest Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture is dedicated to the principle of multiple use management of the Nation’s forest resources for sustained yields of wood, water, forage, wildlife, and recreation. Through forestry research, cooperation with the States and private forest owners, and management of the National Forests and national grasslands, it strives—as directed by Congress—to provide increasingly greater service to a growing Nation. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TDD).To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Authors Gary L. Miller is a professor, University of North Carolina, Environmental Studies, One University Heights, Asheville, NC 28804-3299.
    [Show full text]
  • Biology, Aquaculture and Medical Use of Seahorse, Hippocampus Spp
    Annual Research & Review in Biology 14(5): 1-12, 2017; Article no.ARRB.34152 ISSN: 2347-565X, NLM ID: 101632869 A Review - Biology, Aquaculture and Medical Use of Seahorse, Hippocampus spp Yuan Yuan Zhang1, Bo-Mi Ryu2 and Zhong-Ji Qian1* 1Key Laboratory of Advanced Processing of Aquatic Products of Guangdong Higher Education Institution, College of Food Science and Technology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, P. R. China. 2School of Pharmacy, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia. Authors’ contributions This work was carried out in collaboration between all authors. Authors YYZ and ZJQ conceived and designed the study. Author YYZ wrote the first draft of the manuscript. Author BMR managed the literature searches. Authors BMR and ZJQ reviewed the first manuscript and wrote the final manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript. Article Information DOI: 10.9734/ARRB/2017/34152 Editor(s): (1) Eugene A. Silow, Institute of Biology, Chair of invertebrate zoology and aquatic ecology, Sukhe-Baator str., 5, Irkutsk, 664003, Russia. (2) George Perry, Dean and Professor of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, USA. Reviewers: (1) Weiting Wang, Tianjin Institute of Pharmaceutical Research, China. (2) Jonatas R. de Oliveira, Sao Paulo State University, Brazil. (3) Marina Quartu, University of Cagliari, Italy. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history/20049 Received 16th May 2017 Accepted 11th July 2017 Review Article Published 14th July 2017 ABSTRACT Seahorse has been used as medicine in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Japan and Vietnam for thousands of years. However, in western countries, the ecology of seahorse has been a focus of attention of many researchers for years.
    [Show full text]
  • Male Seahorse and Human Pregnancies Remarkably Alike 1 September 2015
    Male seahorse and human pregnancies remarkably alike 1 September 2015 hasn't been known until now is the degree to which male seahorses nourish and protect their embryos in their brood pouch during the 24-day gestation period. Findings co-authored by Dr Camilla Whittington from the University's School of Biological Sciences, published today in Molecular Biology and Evolution, show male seahorses play as much a part in nurturing embryos during pregnancy as female mammals. Previously their role, other than as pouch provider, was largely a mystery. "Surprisingly, seahorse dads do a lot of the same things human mums do," said Dr Whittington. "Seahorse babies get a lot of nutrients via the egg yolk provided by their mothers but the pouch of the fathers has also evolved to meet the complex challenges of providing additional nutrients and immunological protection, and ensuring gas exchange and waste removal. " Dr. Whittington and colleagues found male seahorses are able to deliver nutrients to their developing embryos, particularly energy-rich lipids, and calcium to allow them to build their tiny skeletons. It is likely these nutrients are secreted in the brood pouch and then absorbed by embryos. A newborn Australian pot-bellied seahorse emerges from its fathers pouch. Credit: Rudie Kuiter, Aquatic They also found male seahorses' gene expression Photographics during pregnancy was similar to that of humans. Their research involved taking samples from brood pouches and assessing how gene expression changed during the course of the pregnancy. It is Their pregnancies are carried by the males but, the first RNA sequencing study - monitoring how when it comes to breeding, seahorses have more much genes switch on and off - across the full in common with humans than previously thought, course of pregnancy in any animal.
    [Show full text]
  • Downloaded from Bioscientifica.Com at 10/01/2021 07:31:19PM Via Free Access
    158 5 REPRODUCTIONRESEARCH Melatonin rescues impaired penetration ability of human spermatozoa induced by mitochondrial dysfunction Xue-Ying Zhang1,*, Yi-Meng Xiong1,*, Ya-Jing Tan2, Li Wang2, Rong Li2, Yong Zhang2, Xin-Mei Liu2, Xian-Hua Lin2, Li Jin2, Yu-Ting Hu2, Zhen-Hua Tang2, Zheng-Mu Wu2, Feng-Hua Yin2, Zheng-Quan Wang2, Ye Xiao2, Jian-Zhong Sheng1,3 and He-Feng Huang1,2,4 1The Key Laboratory of Reproductive Genetics (Zhejiang University), Ministry of Education, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, 2The International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, 3Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China and 4Shanghai Key Laboratory of Embryo Original Diseases, Shanghai, China Correspondence should be addressed to H-F Huang; Email: [email protected] *(X-Y Zhang and Y-M Xiong contributed equally to this work) Abstract Fertilization failure often occurs during in vitro fertilization (IVF) cycles despite apparently normal sperm and oocytes. Accumulating evidence suggests that mitochondria play crucial roles in the regulation of sperm function and male fertility. 3-Nitrophthalic acid (3-NPA) can induce oxidative stress in mitochondria, and melatonin, as an antioxidant, can improve mitochondrial function by reducing mitochondrial oxidative stress. The role of sperm mitochondrial dysfunction in fertilization failure during IVF is unclear. The present study revealed that spermatozoa with low, or poor, fertilization rates had swollen mitochondria, increased mitochondria- derived ROS, and attenuated mitochondrial respiratory capacity. 3-NPA treatment enhanced mitochondrial dysfunction in sperm. Spermatozoa with poor fertilization rates, and spermatozoa treated with 3-NPA, had reduced penetration ability.
    [Show full text]
  • Diversity of Seahorse Species (Hippocampus Spp.) in the International Aquarium Trade
    diversity Review Diversity of Seahorse Species (Hippocampus spp.) in the International Aquarium Trade Sasha Koning 1 and Bert W. Hoeksema 1,2,* 1 Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, P.O. Box 11103, 9700 Groningen, The Netherlands; [email protected] 2 Taxonomy, Systematics and Geodiversity Group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, P.O. Box 9517, 2300 Leiden, The Netherlands * Correspondence: [email protected] Abstract: Seahorses (Hippocampus spp.) are threatened as a result of habitat degradation and over- fishing. They have commercial value as traditional medicine, curio objects, and pets in the aquarium industry. There are 48 valid species, 27 of which are represented in the international aquarium trade. Most species in the aquarium industry are relatively large and were described early in the history of seahorse taxonomy. In 2002, seahorses became the first marine fishes for which the international trade became regulated by CITES (Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora), with implementation in 2004. Since then, aquaculture has been developed to improve the sustainability of the seahorse trade. This review provides analyses of the roles of wild-caught and cultured individuals in the international aquarium trade of various Hippocampus species for the period 1997–2018. For all species, trade numbers declined after 2011. The proportion of cultured seahorses in the aquarium trade increased rapidly after their listing in CITES, although the industry is still struggling to produce large numbers of young in a cost-effective way, and its economic viability is technically challenging in terms of diet and disease. Whether seahorse aqua- Citation: Koning, S.; Hoeksema, B.W.
    [Show full text]
  • Jshtional Wildlife Refuge
    U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Ceda^^1 • JShtional Wildlife Refuge Introduction Cedar Keys National Wildlife Cedar Keys National Refuge was established in 1929 when President Herbert Hoover set aside Wildlife Refuge is This blue goose, Snake, Bird (Deadman's) and North designed by J.N. Keys as a refuge and breeding ground "Ding" Darling, for colonial birds. Today, the refuge located 50 miles has become the is comprised of 13 islands. Four of symbol of the these islands (Snake, Bird, North southwest of Gainesville, National Wildlife and Seahorse) are designated as Refuge System. wilderness areas with restricted entry. The most recent addition to the refuge Florida, along the \ is Atsena Otie Key. This island is owned by the Suwannee River Water Management District and is managed southern edge of the as part of the Cedar Keys Refuge. Big Bend Region of History of the Islands The refuge has a rich and interest­ Florida's West coast. ing history that began with the native Indians who occupied the "Keys" for at least 1,000 years, from 450 to 1,800 The refuge encompasses years ago. The islands were named "Cedar Keys" by two American approximately 800 acres explorers who, in 1835, were searching for cedar timber near the Suwannee River. and is composed of 13 Seahorse Key received its off-shore islands in the name due to the island's contours, which resemble Gulf of Mexico, ranging z. a seahorse. "C In the past, from 1 to 165 acres. Seahorse Key d zz was used as a military hospital, and it served as a detention camp for Indians during the Second Seminole War (1835-1842).
    [Show full text]