Maternal size and body condition predict the amount of post-fertilization maternal provisioning in matrotrophic fish.

ABSTRACT: Maternal effects often provide a mechanism for adaptive transgenerational phenotypic plasticity. The maternal phenotype can profoundly influence the potential for such environmentally induced adjustments of the offspring phenotype, causing correlations between offspring and maternal traits. Here, we study potential effects of the maternal phenotype on offspring provisioning prior to and during gestation in the matrotrophic live-bearing fish species Poeciliopsis retropinna. Specifically, we examine how maternal traits such as body fat, lean mass, and length relate to pre- (i.e., allocation to the egg prior to fertilization) and post-fertilization (i.e., allocation to the embryo during pregnancy) maternal provisioning and how this ultimately affects offspring size and body composition

SUBMITTER: Hagmayer A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6308890 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature