Courtship Role Reversal in Sevenspine Goby, Gymnogobius heptacanthus (Gobiidae)
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tship Role Reversal in Sevenspine Goby, Gymnogobius heptacanthus (Gobiidae) A. I. Markevich* Zhirmunsky National Scientific Center of Marine Biology, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, 690041 Russia *e-mail: [email protected] Received June 5, 2019; revised July 1, 2019; accepted July 5, 2019
Abstract—Females of the sevenspine goby Gymnogobius heptacanthus are more colorful and active in courtship display than males. Females tend to exhibit agonistic behavior in female-female competition reaching its highest level in their completed readiness to spawn. In addition, females are sex-role reversed, performing courtship displays. Fish behavioral patterns are rather simple. Thus, the level of male aggression is very low. They do not initiate any courtship display. The spawning ground is not a strictly-guarded site of importance. A small number of male spawners can be a key factor for the sex-role reversal occurrence. Keywords: sevenspine goby Gymnogobius heptacanthus, breeding coloration, courtship display, agonistic behavior, female-female competition, territory DOI: 10.1134/S0032945220040116
INTRODUCTION In most bony fishes (Teleostei), males play a more active role in a spawning process (courtship, spawning, and offspring guarding) than females (Helfman et al., 1997). Features typical for pre-spawning behavior include body bright coloraton, spawning-ground guarding seen quite frequently, aggression towards both conspecific and heterospecific fish, and speciestypical courtship display (Baerends, 1984). Females are generally more passive in courtship displaying and less active in territory and offspring guarding. However, the females of certain species in different fish groups, in contrast, are more active than males. Such sex-role reversal is recorded in Canthigaster valentini (Tetraodontidae) (Gladstone, 1987), Julidochromis marlieri (Cichlidae) (Yamagishi and Kohda, 1996), Apogon notatus (Apogonidae) (Okuda et al., 2003), Eucyclogobius newberryi (Swift et al., 1989; Swenson, 1997), and Gobiusculus flavescens (Gobiidae) (Försgren et al., 2004). A similar phenomenon had not been previously recorded in gobies of the family Gobiidae, inhabiting the waters of the Sea of Japan/East Sea (Dotu, 1954; Dotsu, 1984; Koyama et al., 2017; Henmi et al., 2018). However, the sex-role reversal in the sevenspine goby Gymnogobius heptacanthus was observed during the SCUBA observations performed by the author in the inshore zone of the Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of Japan/East Sea (Markevich, 2010). The objective of the survey is to describe the courtship behavior of the sevenspine goby G. heptacanthus.
MATERIALS AND METHODS SCUBA observations were periodically conducted in the inshore waters of the Popov Island, particularly in the Stark Strait (42°58′48″ N 131°43′44″ E) and the Alekseev Bay (42°58′15″ N 131°44′37″ E) in May to June 2008, 2010−2012, and 2014−2016. The seabed of the shallow-water area (to 4.5 m water depth) in these areas is covered with medium sands mixed with gravel, small stones, emp
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