Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Piracy as an alternative reproductive tactic for males

Abstract

Males of many animals exhibit multiple mating behaviours1–3 but most of these alternatives merely enable smaller, competitively inferior males to obtain a few matings where they could get none in regular competition. Some alternatives may match the mating rate of dominant males4,5, but alternatives with higher payoffs than being a nesting or territorial male are virtually unknown. Here, I describe a new alternative, 'piracy', in which the largest males circumvent the costs of nest construction, guarding and potential nest failure by taking over successful nests of other males, spawning in these, and abandoning them to be guarded by the original owner. The overall payoff to a pirate male appears to be above that of the average nesting male and 2.5 to 10 times higher than that of the other documented alternatives in the population.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rubenstein, D. I. in Limits to Action (ed. Staddon, J. R.) 65–100 (Academic, New York, 1980).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Gross, M. R. in Fish Reproduction: Strategies and Tactics (eds Wootton, G. W. & Potts, R. J.) 55–75 (Academic, London, 1984).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Taborsky, M., Hudde, B. & Wirtz, P. Behaviour 102, 82–117 (1987).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Maynard Smith, J. Evolution and the Theory of Games (Cambridge University Press, 1982).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Gross, M. R. Nature 313, 47–48 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Lejeune, P. Cahier d' Ethologie Applique 5, 1–208 (1985).

    Google Scholar 

  7. Warner, R. R. & Lejeune, P. Mar. Biol. 87, 89–99 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Michel, C. H., Lejeune, P. & Voss J. Revue Francaise d' Aquariologie et Herpetologie 14, 1–80 (1987).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Constantz, G. D. Proc. Acad. nat. Sci. Philad. 131, 131–138 (1979).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Constantz, G. D. Envir. Biol. Fish. 14, 175–183 (1985).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Yasunobu, Y. & Ochi, H. Anim. Behav. 34, 1769–1780 (1986).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Kelly, W. H. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 96, 163–175 (1967).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

van den Berghe, E. Piracy as an alternative reproductive tactic for males. Nature 334, 697–698 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/334697a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/334697a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing