Sperm competition experiments reveal low prezygotic postmating isolation between parasitic and nonparasitic lamprey ecotypes.

ABSTRACT: The role of postmating sexual selection as a potential reproductive barrier in speciation is not well understood. Here, we studied the effects of sperm competition and cryptic female choice as putative postmating barriers in two lamprey ecotypes with a partial reproductive isolation. The European river lamprey Lampetra fluviatilis is anadromous and parasitic of other fish species, whereas the brook lamprey Lampetra planeri is freshwater resident and nonparasitic. We measured sperm traits in both ecotypes and designed sperm competition experiments to test the occurrence of cryptic female choice. We also performed sperm competition experiments either at equal semen volume or equal sperm number to investigate the role of sperm velocity on fertilization success. We observed disti

SUBMITTER: Decanter N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10067809 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature