Meeting Abstract

P2-51   -   Interaction of relative size and sex in parental roles in biparental brooding cichid, Julidochromis transcriptus. Anderson, AP*; Renn, SCP; Reed College ; Reed College andersond@reed.edu http://andersonevolve.com

Sex-biased parental roles in broodcare across animals can be both fixed and plastic depending on the species, environmental pressures, and social situation. Underlying hormonal, cellular, and genetic mechanisms of parental behavior as well as what influences those regulatory cascades is a subject of interest to multiple biological fields. Julidochromis transcriptus is a Tanganyikan cichlid with biparental broodcare where females usually tend the nest and pair with larger males who patrol the outer parts of the nest. In some cases, the male may be smaller and take on greater nest attendance while the larger female patrols. It is unknown what hormones may influence parental care in this species and if both sexes use the same regulatory mechanisms to generate the same parental behavior. By designing a reaction norm experiment in which males and females transition from male-larger pairs to female-larger pairs and vice versa, we test if the relative size of the mating partner influences behavioral and hormonal phenotypes in mate pairs. Results demonstrate which hormones are affected by social environment and sex of individual as well as which hormones correlate with observed behavioral phenotypes. We illustrate how one sex taps into a phenotype typically expressed in the opposite sex in environmental situations that impose a plastic response.