Multiple Paternity and Its Correlates in Female Poecilia latipinna (Poeciliidae)

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We examined allozyme products from 14 loci for 23 gravid female Poecilia latipinna and their broods from a single population to estimate the rate of multiple paternity. Approximately half of all broods were demonstrably multiply sired. Females carrying such broods were 9 mm longer (on average) than females carrying singly sired broods. Multiply sired broods were 50% larger than singly sired broods carried by females of the same body size. These data suggest that multiple paternity rates in natural populations of these species are functions of female size structure, and they have important ramifications for studies of reproductive success and sexual selection in these populations.