The title says it all, folks! Want to get all the guys? Want to look sexy as hell? We've got just the lady to advise you!
Meet Microphis deocata - the pipefish who has it all! She's got slimness, she's got color, she's got....something that looks like the DNA diagram in my Bio 198 textbook...
And yeah, that's right! I said "she"! Like a lovely woman blessed with bone structure, this stunning Syngnathidae (the family of all pipefish) has been evolutionarily gifted with beautiful stripes that her mate just can't match.
No, literally. It's sexual dimorphism. The males of Microphis deocata don't have stripes. They look less like DNA diagrams and more like your everyday living pipe-cleaner.
This is pretty weird in the animal world. While use humans are used to both sexes getting dolled up to hunt for potential mates, that just doesn't hold for most animals. Without opposable thumbs and makeup, animals must instead rely on their genetically-given gifts to attract the opposite sex. But usually it's males who do the attracting, and females doing the choosing. These funky flat fish are just pain strange!
What's with their strange sexual selection? Well, sexual selection itself ain't straight. In fact, sexual selection is rampant in the animal kingdom. Just one trip to Aggieville on a Friday night and I guarantee you'll see it in action yourself!
Jokes aside, sexual selection is found pretty much anywhere there is a disparity between amount of effort exerted by each half of a mated pair. This disparity can be small, like how a female frogs have fewer eggs over their lifetime than a male frog has sperm. Or the disparity can be MASSIVE, such as a female deer gestating and then guarding a fawn long after the male has gallivanted away. Generally speaking, the more selective the judging individual, the greater the gap in expended energy is going to be.
Which brings us to the proposed question of pipefish. What's the deal with the flashy female?
Well I won't leave you in suspense. Remember that "disparity" talk above? Well turns out not every species regulates the offspring protection to the female. And Microphis deocata just so happens to be in the same family as another creature well-known for it's fatherly prowess:
First and absolutely foremost, I enjoyed reading your blog.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading about pipefish, I learned the offspring gain substantial benefits to having swapped reproductive rolls. The offspring gain a impressive adaptive immune system from the female (from the egg) and male (from the placenta like connection made with the egg).
I wonder why this isn't more of shared evolution, I've only read of benefits of such a incubation.
I like that you mentioned that the strength of selection is positively correlated with the disparity between time and energy invested in reproduction in the two sexes. Thanks for always making me laugh!
ReplyDeleteMadison,
ReplyDeleteI ran straight to your blog for this week's module because I knew you would have witty comments on the disparities between the male and female pipefish appearance. You did not let me down. In your research on the Syngnathidae family, did you find any other examples of the female showing extreme colors and patterns when compared to the male? I was wondering if that was consistent as well as the male carrying the eggs. My hypothesis was very similar to yours. I also proposed that the drab colors of the male provide more camouflage to protect the eggs during their development, but I did not consider the energy expenditure differences. That was an excellent point, and something I think would contribute to the evolution of the sexes! I always love your blog - keep up the great work!
You know, I didn't really look for other examples of sexual selection in Syngnathidae! Some surface-level research suggests that a lot of seahorses will select females based on size; since seahorses frequently rely on camouflage as a defensive tactic, it might not be so common to see flashy females. Thanks for taking the time to read! Hope I could provide a laugh
DeleteHey Madison,
ReplyDeleteI liked your post and funny banter about the female pipefish! I did some research and found out that male pipefish actually seem to prefer larger females, not sure if that's length or...girth? But anyway, how do you think that aspect of male selection impacts female display?
Oh interesting, that makes some sense! Larger females might have larger broods, or size may be an indicator of overall fitness. If males are selecting for larger females (and if size is heritable), you'd probably see the evolution of size differences between species. Larger, brighter females and smaller, duller males? But I'm not entirely sure; that's mostly speculation on my part
DeleteHonestly I always come back to your blog, regardless of what the generator suggested, lol.
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job explaining the whys and hows and 'wtf's of the rainbow belly pipefish specifically. They're freakin' weird looking, but I GUESS I see the appeal from a drab male perspective.