The 'Woman in Red' effect: pipefish males curb pregnancies at the sight of an attractive female

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2018

Authors

Cunha, M (Author) Other; Berglund, A (Author) Other; Mendes, S (Author) Other; Monteiro, NM (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Vol. 285

ISSN: 0962-8452

Publisher: The Royal Society

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 7 Citations

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-00P-JPN

DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1335

Abstract (EN): In an old Gene Wilder movie, an attractive woman dressed in red devastated a man's current relationship. We have found a similar 'Woman in Red' effect in pipefish, a group of fish where pregnancy occurs in males. We tested for the existence of pregnancy blocks in pregnant male black-striped pipefish (Syngnathus abaster). We allowed pregnant males to see females that were larger and even more attractive than their original high-quality mates and monitored the survival and growth of developing offspring. After exposure to these extremely attractive females, males produced smaller offspring in more heterogeneous broods and showed a higher rate of spontaneous offspring abortion. Although we did not observe a full pregnancy block, our results show that males are able to reduce investment in current broods when faced with prospects of a more successful future reproduction with a potentially better mate. This 'Woman in Red' life-history trade-off between present and future reproduction has similarities to the Bruce effect, and our study represents, to our knowledge, the first documentation of such a phenomenon outside mammals.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 7