MALE PARENTAL CARE IN THE BONY FISHES

Abstract

The phenomenon of male parental care, which is unusually common in bony fishes, has been the subject of numerous evolutionary hypotheses in recent years. In an effort to evaluate these hypotheses the results of a survey of allfamilies whose species exhibit parental care is presented. Sexual selection and female choice for male parental behavior only partially explain this phenomenon. Although females may benefit by males being the care-giving individuals, these benefits may apply equally to males when females are the care-givers. The information available suggests that the effects of care-giving on the future reproduction of the male and the male’s probability of genetic relatedness to his mate’s offspring are majorfactors in the evolution and maintenance of male parental behavior. The costs of care-giving are minimized by mating strategies that enable males to give parental care and pursue further mating simultaneously. Male fishes with externalfertilization often attain a relatively high probability of genetic relatedness to the pffspring at the oviposition site. This is a preconditionf or the evolution and maintenance of parental behavior.