Faster juvenile growth promotes earlier sex change in a protandrous hermaphrodite (barramundi Lates calcarifer).

ABSTRACT: The relationship between growth and sexual maturation is central to understanding the dynamics of animal populations which exhibit indeterminate growth. In sequential hermaphrodites, which undergo post-maturation sex change, the size and age at which sex change occurs directly affects reproductive output and hence population productivity. However, these traits are often labile, and may be strongly influenced by heterogenous growth and mortality rates. We analysed otolith microstructure of a protandrous (i.e., male-to-female) fish (barramundi Lates calcarifer) to examine growth in relation to individual variation in the timing of sex change. Growth trajectories of individuals with contrasting life histories were examined to elucidate the direction and extent to which growth rate influences

SUBMITTER: Roberts BH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7838401 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature