:: Current research project

The mating system of the blenny Salaria pavo

The population of the intertidal blenny Salaria pavo (Risso, 1980) situated in the natural park of Ria Formosa, South of Portugal, presents male alternative reproductive tactics. In this population territorial males establish nests and provide parental care to the eggs. Other males do not establish nests or territories and try to achieve parasitic fertilizations by mimicking females and thus approach the nest of the territorial males unnoticed.

A second characteristic of particular interest in this population is the reversal of sex roles. In this population, females actively court males and these in turn reject a large proportion of the courting females which suggests a high selectivity of males.

Hence, for the convenient dimensions of the individuals, its accessibility, and its degree of complexity, this system constitutes an ideal model for the study of the dynamics of alternative reproductive tactics.

Our goal is to:

1. Characterize the two types of males reproducing with alternative tactics, their life-history trajectories and the plasticity of their behaviour.
2. Identify the factors that determine the possible choice of alternative tactics.
3. Identify the factors conducting to sex role reversal and, despite that, the presence and dynamic of female choice

Funded by: FCT - SFRH/BD/6502/2001

:: Selected publications

- Fagundes, T., Gonçalves, D.M. and Oliveira, R.F. 2007. Female mate choice and mate search tactics in a sex role reversed population of the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo (Risso, 1810). Journal of Fish Biology 71: 77-89.

- Gonçalves, D.M., Matos, R., Fagundes, T. and Oliveira R.F. 2005. Do bourgeois males of the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, discriminate females from female-mimicking sneaker males? Ethology 111: 559-772.

- Gonçalves, D., Fagundes, T. and Oliveira, R.F. 2003. Field reproductive behaviour of sneaker males of the peacock blenny. Journal of Fish Biology 63: 528-532.

- Gonçalves, D., Simões, P.C., Chumbinho, A.C., Correia, M.J., Fagundes, T. and Oliveira, R.F. 2002. Fluctuating asymmetries and reproductive success in the peacock blenny. Journal of Fish Biology 60: 810-820.