Year-round sexual harassment as a behavioral mediator of vertebrate population dynamics

Within-species sexual segregation is a widespread phenomenon among vertebrates, but its causes remain a topic of much debate. Female avoidance of male coercive mating attempts has the potential to influence the social structure of animal populations, yet it has been largely overlooked as a driver of sexual separation. Indeed, its potential role in long-term structuring of natural populations has not been studied. Here we use a comparative approach to examine the suitability of multiple hypotheses forwarded to account for sexual segregation (i.e., activity budget, predation risk, thermal niche–fecundity, and social factors) as drivers underlying sex-specific habitat use in a monomorphic model vertebrate, the small-spotted catshark, Scyliorhinus canicula. Using this hypothesis-driven approach, we show that year-round sexual habitat segregation in S. canicula can be accounted for directly by female avoidance of male sexual harassment. Long-term electronic tracking reveals that sperm-storing female catsharks ...

[1]  D. Croft,et al.  First analysis of multiple paternity in an oviparous shark, the small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula L.). , 2012, The Journal of heredity.

[2]  N. Queiroz,et al.  Sexual segregation of pelagic sharks and the potential threat from fisheries , 2009, Biology Letters.

[3]  D. Croft,et al.  Male harassment drives females to alter habitat use and leads to segregation of the sexes , 2008, Biology Letters.

[4]  V. J. Wearmouth,et al.  Sexual segregation in marine fish, reptiles, birds and mammals behaviour patterns, mechanisms and conservation implications. , 2008, Advances in marine biology.

[5]  F. Pérez-Barbería,et al.  WHY DO POLYGYNOUS UNGULATES SEGREGATE IN SPACE? TESTING THE ACTIVITY-BUDGET HYPOTHESIS IN SOAY SHEEP , 2007 .

[6]  G. Parker.  Sexual conflict over mating and fertilization: an overview , 2006, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

[7]  V. J. Wearmouth,et al.  Hunt warm, rest cool: bioenergetic strategy underlying diel vertical migration of a benthic shark. , 2006, The Journal of animal ecology.

[8]  D. Sims,et al.  Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Differences in habitat selection and reproductive strategies of male and female sharks , 2006 .

[9]  L. Conradt.  Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Definitions, hypotheses, models and measures in the study of animal segregation , 2006 .

[10]  J. Altringham,et al.  Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Social systems and ecology of bats , 2006 .

[11]  K. Ruckstuhl,et al.  Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Activity asynchrony and social segregation , 2006 .

[12]  K. Ruckstuhl,et al.  Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Sex-related activities and social factors , 2006 .

[13]  T. Clutton‐Brock,et al.  Sexual Segregation in Vertebrates: Sexual segregation and the ecology of the two sexes , 2006 .

[14]  Clint D. Kelly,et al.  Resource quality or harem size: what influences male tenure at refuge sites in tree weta (Orthoptera: Anostostomatidae)? , 2006, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[15]  A. Tullis,et al.  The metabolic and biochemical responses of tropical whitespotted bamboo shark Chiloscyllium plagiosum to alterations in environmental temperature , 2005 .

[16]  V. J. Wearmouth,et al.  refuging behaviour in the nursehound scyliorhinus stellaris (chondrichthyes: elasmobranchii): preliminary evidence from acoustic telemetry , 2005, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[17]  G. Kauermann,et al.  Males in the shade: habitat use and sexual segregation in the Galápagos sea lion (Zalophus californianus wollebaeki) , 2005, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[18]  H. L. Pratt,et al.  Group courtship, mating behaviour and siphon sac function in the whitetip reef shark, Triaenodon obesus , 2004, Animal Behaviour.

[19]  D. Croft,et al.  Is sexual segregation in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, consistentwith the predation risk hypothesis? , 2004, Environmental Biology of Fishes.

[20]  A. R. Martin,et al.  River dolphins and flooded forest: seasonal habitat use and sexual segregation of botos (Inia geoffrensis) in an extreme cetacean environment , 2004 .

[21]  M. Mooring,et al.  IS THE ACTIVITY BUDGET HYPOTHESIS THE HOLY GRAIL OF SEXUAL SEGREGATION , 2004 .

[22]  T. Chapman,et al.  Response to Eberhard and Cordero, and Córdoba-Aguilar and Contreras-Garduño: sexual conflict and female choice , 2003 .

[23]  G. Rose,et al.  Sex differences in cod residency on a spawning ground , 2003 .

[24]  W. Cooper,et al.  When to come out from a refuge: Balancing predation risk and foraging opportunities in an alpine lizard , 2003 .

[25]  D. Croft,et al.  Is sexual segregation in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata, consistentwith the predation risk hypothesis? , 2003, Environmental Biology of Fishes.

[26]  D. Sims,et al.  Movements and activity of male and female dogfish in a tidal sea lough: alternative behavioural strategies and apparent sexual segregation , 2001 .

[27]  R. Shine,et al.  Sexual conflict in the snake den , 2000, Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

[28]  S. McCulloch.  The vocal behaviour of the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) , 2000 .

[29]  B. Jégou,et al.  Seasonal variations in sex steroids and male sexual characteristics in Scyliorhinus canicula. , 1999, General and comparative endocrinology.

[30]  L. Conradt,et al.  Could asynchrony in activity between the sexes cause intersexual social segregation in ruminants? , 1998, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[31]  K. Ruckstuhl,et al.  Foraging behaviour and sexual segregation in bighorn sheep , 1998, Animal Behaviour.

[32]  S. E. Shackley,et al.  The reproductive biology of Scyliorhinus canicula in the Bristol Channel, U.K. , 1997 .

[33]  P. Stockley,et al.  Sexual conflict resulting from adaptations to sperm competition. , 1997, Trends in ecology & evolution.

[34]  John D. C. Linnell,et al.  Habitat use and ecological correlates of home range size in a small cervid : the roe deer , 1996 .

[35]  M. Main,et al.  Sexual segregation in Rocky Mountain mule deer , 1996 .

[36]  D. W. Sims.  The effect of body size on the standard metabolic rate of the lesser spotted dogfish , 1996 .

[37]  J. Ellis,et al.  The Comparative Feeding Ecology of Six Species of Shark and Four Species of Ray (Elasmobranchii) In The North-East Atlantic , 1996, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[38]  T. Clutton‐Brock,et al.  Sexual coercion in animal societies , 1995, Animal Behaviour.

[39]  A. Magurran,et al.  A cost of sexual harassment in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata , 1994, Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences.

[40]  H. L. Pratt,et al.  Group reproductive behaviors in free-living nurse sharks, Ginglymostoma cirratum , 1994 .

[41]  S. Davies,et al.  Does specific dynamic action (SDA) regulate return of appetite in the lesser spotted dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula? , 1994 .

[42]  D. W. Sims.  Physiological factors regulating appetite in the lesser spotted dogfish shark, Scyliorhinus canicula (L.) , 1994 .

[43]  F. Trillmich,et al.  Foraging Strategies of the Galapagos Marine Iguana (Amblyrhynchus Cristatus) : Adapting Behavioral Rules To Ontogenetic Size Change , 1994 .

[44]  J. Davenport,et al.  Physiological determinants of distribution in fish , 1993 .

[45]  Flavio Quintana,et al.  Group breeding in sea lions: pups survive better in colonies , 1992, Animal Behaviour.

[46]  J. Castro,et al.  The Reproductive Biology of the Chain Dogfish, Scyliorhinus retifer , 1988 .

[47]  D. Minchin.  Fishes of the Lough Hyne marine reserve , 1987 .

[48]  T. Clutton‐Brock,et al.  Sexual segregation and density-related changes in habitat use in male and female Red deer (Cerrus elaphus) , 1987 .

[49]  J. Lyle.  Food and feeding habits of the lesser spotted dogfish, Scyliorhinus canicula (L.), in Isle of Man waters , 1983 .

[50]  A. P. Klimley.  Observations of courtship and copulation in the nurse shark, Ginglymostoma cirratum , 1980 .

[51]  M. Daly.  The Cost of Mating , 1978, The American Naturalist.

[52]  P. Butler,et al.  The effect of progressive hypoxia on respiration in the dogfish (scyliorhinus canicula) at different seasonal temperatures. , 1975, The Journal of experimental biology.

[53]  J. Booth,et al.  Behavioural studies on the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) in the sea , 1972 .

[54]  International Institute for Land Reclamation and Improvement , 1963, Soil Science Society of America Journal.

[55]  S. Dijkgraaf.  Sound Reception in the Dogfish , 1963, Nature.

[56]  H. Metten.  Studies on the Reproduction of the Dogfish , 1939 .

[57]  H. Metten.  Reproduction of the Dogfish , 1939, Nature.