Pair spawning behavior of Dascyllus reticulatus
(37.3MB, 00:01:23)撮影日：2016/10/03
撮影場所：Kuchierabu-jima Island
Rei Sakanoue
2025/08/24登録
種類:Dascyllus reticulatus
キーワード: damselfish pair spawning
動物界 >脊索動物門 >条鰭綱 >スズキ目 >スズメダイ科 >ミスジリュウキュウスズメダイ属 >
ペア産卵行動．輸卵管の伸びたメスが，縄張りオスの求愛に応じて巣を訪問し，腹部を基質あるいは海藻に擦り付けながら卵を産みつけていく．縄張りオスは産卵メスに寄り添いながら放精，時には産卵メスの腹部を口で優しく刺激することもある．時折，産卵中のメスは巣を離れて近づいてくる他の小型個体を攻撃することもあるが（0:10と0:32），数秒後には戻ってきて産卵を再開する．
Below is the abstract from the article containing this video:
Subordinate males in various animal groups often exhibit female mimicry as an alternative tactic. However, direct evidence of female mimicry behaviors in pomacentrids, an excellent model for studying the diversity of mating tactics in teleost under natural conditions, remains scarce. Here, we report female-mimicking behaviors in the sexually monochromatic coral- dwelling damselfish Dascyllus reticulatus, where subordinate males perform pair-spawning behaviors in the female role with dominant territorial males. These subordinate males also displayed nest-previewing behavior in mating nests a few days before pseudo-spawning, closely resembling the reproductive sequences of the females. Although subordinate males stably cohabited with the territorial male, one subordinate male suffered severe attacks from the dominant male immediately after pseudo-spawning, implying sperm release at the nest. As the territorial dominant males of D. reticulatus prioritized inducing female spawning in the harem and often released sperm after the female spawned within their mating sequence, it was inferred that unfertilized eggs remained on the mating nest at the time of pseudo-spawning. Female-mimicking behaviors may provide subordinate males with tactical advantages, such as potentially gaining partial paternity of eggs in mating nests by deceiving territorial males. Digital video images related to the article are available at http://www.momo-p.com/showd etail-e.php?movieid=momo250804dr01a, http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo250804dr02a, and http://www.momo-p.com/showdetail-e.php?movieid=momo250804dr03a.
Rei Sakanoue, and Yoichi Sakai (2025) Female‐mimicking spawning by subordinate males of the coral‐dwelling damselfish Dascyllus reticulatus—a possible sneaking tactic observed in wild groups. J. Ethol. 10.1007/s10164-025-00862-8