Data from: Single and multiple mating reduces longevity of female dumpling squid (Euprymna tasmanica)

For many species, mating is a necessary yet costly activity. The costs
involved can have an important influence on the evolution of life
histories and senescence. Females of many species mate multiply and this
behaviour can inflict a longevity cost. Most studies investigating the
effects of multiple mating on female survival have been conducted on
insects and the effects in other taxa are largely unknown. We investigate
the effects of both a single mating and a second mating on longevity in
female dumpling squid (Euprymna tasmanica), a species in which both sexes
mate multiply. Through comparing the longevity of virgin, once-mated and
twice-mated females, we found that a single mating reduced female lifespan
by 15 days on average. A second mating resulted in an additional 8 day (on
average) longevity cost, despite no difference in total clutch mass,
number of clutches, single egg mass or number of eggs per clutch between
once-mated and twice-mated females. This demonstrates a cost to multiple
mating which may be independent of the cost of egg production.
Furthermore, total clutch mass and female lifespan were positively
correlated, whilst female lifespan decreased with increasing average water
temperature. The presence of an additive effect of reproduction on
longevity suggests that multiple mating in cephalopods may have benefits
that outweigh these costs, or that there is a conflict in optimal mating
frequency between males and females.