The importance of social dimension and maturation stage for the probabilistic maturation reaction norm in Poecilia reticulata

Maturation is an important event in an organism's life history, with important implications on dynamics of both wild and captive populations. The probabilistic maturation reaction norm (PMRN) has emerged as an important method to describe variation in maturation in wild fish. Because most PMRNs are based on age and size only, it is important to understand limitations of these variables in explaining maturation. We experimentally assessed (i) the sensitivity of age- and size-based PMRNs to unaccounted sources of plasticity, (ii) the role of social environment on maturation and (iii) the significance of estimating PMRNs early and late in the maturation process (initiation and completion of maturation, respectively). We reared male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) under laboratory conditions, subjected to two food levels and three different social cues. We found that growth and social environment affected the maturation in a way that could not be accounted for by their effect on age and size....

性成熟是生物体生活史中的关键事件，对野生种群与圈养种群的种群动态均具有重要意义。概率性成熟反应范型（probabilistic maturation reaction norm, PMRN）现已成为描述野生鱼类性成熟变异的重要研究方法。由于绝大多数PMRN仅以年龄与体型作为核心变量，厘清此类变量在解释性成熟过程中的局限性便显得尤为关键。本研究通过实验开展了三方面的评估：(i) 以年龄与体型为基础构建的PMRN对未被纳入考量的表型可塑性来源的敏感性；(ii) 社会环境对性成熟的调控作用；(iii) 在性成熟过程的早期与晚期（分别对应性成熟启动与性成熟完成阶段）估算PMRN的研究价值。本研究在实验室条件下饲养雄性孔雀鱼（Poecilia reticulata），设置了两种食物供给水平与三种不同的社会线索处理组。研究结果表明，生长状况与社会环境对性成熟的影响无法仅通过其对年龄与体型的作用来解释。