A fitness advantage of cannibalism in female sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatusL.)
作者:
J.-C. Belles-Isles,
G.J. Fitzgerald,
期刊:
Ethology Ecology & Evolution
(Taylor Available online 1993)
卷期:
Volume 5,
issue 2
页码: 187-191
ISSN:0394-9370
年代: 1993
DOI:10.1080/08927014.1993.9523103
出版商: Taylor & Francis Group
关键词: cannibalism;threespine stickleback;nutrition;fitness
数据来源: Taylor
摘要:
In some populations, female threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatusL.) frequently eat conspecific eggs, even when other food is abundant. We tested the hypothesis that egg-eaters have a fitness advantage relative to non-egg eaters by manipulating diet. Our results indicate a clear reproductive advantage for the cannibals. Females that were fed conspecific eggs and a mixture of other foods produced 1.8 times as many eggs over the breeding season as those fed a non-egg diet. Furthermore the cannibals were in better condition at the end of the breeding season than the non-cannibals. We suggest that egg-eating females gain access to nutrients that are lacking or rare in other foods items and/or that eggs are more easily digested than other food.
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