Sammendrag
The two-spotted goby, Gobiusculus flavescens, is a substrate brooder with male uniparental care. In this study we want to test if parental care incurs a cost of reproduction in male two-spotted gobies. Any such cost could potentially limit the number of reproductive events over the male’s single breeding season. Costs can be in terms of time to next breeding attempt and/or a reduced capability of taking care of the eggs during future reproductive events. The design includes two main steps. In step 1, one male will be allowed to reproduce (R-male) whereas another male (matched for size and other characteristics) will be prevented from reproducing (NR-male). In step 2, both males will be allowed to reproduce. After completion of step 1, we will test if there is a difference in the eagerness to court a female between the R-male and the NR-male. During step 2, we will test if there is a difference between the males in the intensity of parental care behaviours including fanning and cleaning of eggs, filial cannibalism and defence against competitors and predators. Additionally, for the R-male we will test if there is a difference in courtship intensity, parental care and filial cannibalism between steps 1 and 2.
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