婚配后雄性克氏原螯虾的择偶行为

The mating behaviors of mated male crayfish Procambarus clarkii

动物在繁殖期间随自身繁殖价值的变化而调整择偶行为,从而导致它们择偶行为的多样性.本文研究具交配经验的雄性克氏原螯虾(Procambarus clarkii)在Y型水迷宫中对不同婚配状态的潜在配偶的择偶行为.结果表明:雄虾在原配一侧的总访问时间和平均访问时间极显著大于在处女虾一侧(P<0.005);访问原配的次数与处女虾相比没有达到显著水平(双侧检验P=0.086),但倾向性还是偏向原配(单侧检验P=0.043).当原配不在时,雄虾随机选择潜在配偶;面对都具备交配经验的原配和非处女虾,雄虾也随机选择配偶.这说明雄虾一定程度上可以识别潜在配偶的婚配状态,推测雄虾可能通过配偶保卫策略确保父权;但雄虾的忠诚度可能会因原配的存在与否而及时改变.因此,雄虾能根据自身的婚配状态以及获取配偶的成本来调整择偶行为.

During the reproduction period,animals can make adj ustments of selectivity with the changes of their own reproductive values,which will lead to the variation of their mating behaviors.Previous papers have discussed the effects of body size and hierarchical status on mutual mate choice in Procambarus clarkii,while few of them pay attention to mating status as a criterion of sexual selection.Due to the long time retention between mating and ovipo-sition,P.clarkii’s mating status will change accordingly.Based on the knowledge of the unmated males’preferences for virgin females,we conducted an experiment to study the mating behaviors of male P.clarkii with mating experience in a Y maze when confronting potential female mates,which have different mating status.Our study indicates：both the total and mean visiting time that the males spent in their primary partners were significantly longer than the virgin targets（P〈0.05）;although the visiting frequency of primary partners did not reach the significant level compared with the virgin ones（two-tailed test P=0.086）,they preferred to visit primary mates（one-tailed test P=0.043）.The males chose the potential mates randomly without the existence of primary mates.On the other side,they also randomly chose their mates when confronting primary mates and non-virgin ones which both had mating experience.The results illustrate that the male crayfish can recognize the mating status of potential mates to some extent.Therefore,we suspect that the male crayfish may insure their paternity through mate guarding. However,their loyalty probably depends on the existence of their primary mates.In conclusion,males are able to dynamically adj ust mate choice based on their own mating history and costs of mate-getting.