Journal article
Spatial variation in egg size and egg number reflects trade-offs and bet-hedging in a freshwater fish
JR Morrongiello, NR Bond, DA Crook, BBM Wong
Journal of Animal Ecology | Published : 2012
Abstract
1.Maternal reproductive investment is thought to reflect a trade-off between offspring size and fecundity, and models generally predict that mothers inhabiting adverse environments will produce fewer, larger offspring. More recently, the importance of environmental unpredictability in influencing maternal investment has been considered, with some models predicting that mothers should adopt a diversified bet-hedging strategy whilst others a conservative bet-hedging strategy. 2.We explore spatial egg size and fecundity patterns in the freshwater fish southern pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis) that inhabits a diversity of streams along gradients of environmental quality, variability and predic..
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Funding Acknowledgements
We thank T., H., M., A. and M. Morrongiello, J. Macdonald, Z. Squires, T. Daniel and H. Clark for field and laboratory help, and J. Thomson and P. A. Svensson for statistical advice. D. Semmens, M. Burd, H. Morrongiello and anonymous reviewers provided valuable comments and discussion that improved this manuscript. This research was financially supported by eWater CRC, the Australian Research Council and Monash University. J. R. Morrongiello was supported by an Australian Postgraduate Award (I) scholarship during this research. Collection and handling of fish was conducted under Monash University School of Biological Sciences Ethics Committee approval (SCI 202007/08) and Fisheries Victoria permit RP 882.