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Biol. Bull. 207: 155. (October 2004)
© 2004 Marine Biological Laboratory

Abstract

Sperm Load Impact on Female Courtship Behavior in the American Lobster (Homarus americanus)

Patrick Flight1, Gabriele Gerlach2 and Jelle Atema3

1 Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
2 Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts
3 Boston University Marine Program, Woods Hole, Massachusetts

During courtship, female lobsters (Homarus americanus) evaluate male pheromones to assess the quality of prospective mates. Females can store sperm for up to three years and use it to fertilize multiple egg clutches. We investigated whether the amount of sperm a female has stored impacts her mate choice, specifically, her preference for a dominant male. Females were classified based on the sperm load in their seminal receptacles. In a choice flume, they were then presented with the option of approaching the upstream shelter of either the dominant or subordinate member of an established male dominance pair. We measured three behavioral parameters: time spent attempting to enter each shelter, number of approaches to each male, and time spent within 30 cm of each shelter. We found that pre-molt females, who would lose any stored sperm during the molt, and females with little or no sperm spent significantly more time attempting to enter the shelter of the dominant male rather than that of the subordinate male; and they also averaged more approaches to the dominant. Conversely, females with high sperm loads were less interested in dominance. They typically spent more time attempting to enter the subordinate shelter and approached it more frequently, possibly in an attempt to evict the subordinate male. Time spent within 30 cm of the shelters was not different among females of all sperm levels. This study shows that molt state and stored sperm quantity affect a female’s mate choice: pre-molt females and females with little or no stored sperm prefer the dominant over the subordinate male. This suggests that females have a mechanism to monitor their sperm load in addition to their molt state.




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