REVIEW ARTICLE Patterns of multiple paternity and maternity in fishes SETH W. COLEMAN 1 * and ADAM G. JONES 2 1 Biology Department, Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA 99258, USA 2 Department of Biology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA Received 22 October 2010; revised 2 February 2011; accepted for publication 5 February 2011 The characterization of patterns of multiple mating is a major facet of molecular ecology and is paramount to understanding the evolution of behaviours associated with parental care and mate choice. Over the last 15 years, fishes have been particularly well studied with respect to multiple maternity and paternity thanks to the widespread application of microsatellite markers. The present review focusses on the impressive literature on genetic parentage in fishes. In studies of natural populations, we find that multiple paternity is extremely common across fish species, whereas rates of multiple maternity are much more variable. In species with nest defence, for example, rates of multiple maternity are strongly bimodal, and the occurrence of multiple dams per brood is either rare or the rule. The sex of the care-giving parent is correlated with the rate of multiple parentage: when males provide uniparental care, rates of multiple paternity are low compared to rates of multiple maternity; when females provide parental care, either alone or assisted by males, rates of multiple paternity are highly variable, whereas rates of multiple maternity are quite low. These patterns may reflect conflicts between the reproductive interests of males and females. We also find that fishes in which females brood the offspring internally display much higher rates of multiple paternity compared to mammals or birds, whereas reptiles are intermediate. Male-nesting fish species, however, show rates of multiple paternity more similar to those found in other vertebrates. © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103, 735–760. ADDITIONAL KEYWORDS: microsatellites – mating – parentage analysis – parental care – sexual conflict – sexual selection. INTRODUCTION Multiple mating, which results in multiple dams and sires contributing genetic material to particular nests, clutches, or broods, has a powerful influence on the strength and direction of many evolutionary pro- cesses (Andersson, 1994; Birkhead & Møller, 1998). Both the causes and effects of multiple mating have stirred controversy in the evolutionary literature. Why individuals seek multiple mates during a breed- ing season remains an open question for many taxa, and numerous hypotheses have been proposed (Halliday & Arnold, 1987; Jennions & Petrie, 2000). In addition, multiple mating has myriad effects on important topics ranging from sexual selection and parental care to migration and demography (Ketterson & Nolan, 1994; Sugg & Chesser, 1994; Arnqvist & Nilsson, 2000; Zeh & Zeh, 2001). Our goal is not to review the causes or effects of multiple mating, which have been reviewed elsewhere (Zeh & Zeh, 1996; Jennions & Petrie, 2000). Rather, we review the empirical literature on patterns of mul- tiple mating in fishes in nature, considering insights that have emerged from this literature and providing a resource for future studies of mating patterns. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISH REPRODUCTION: MATING SYSTEMS, PARENTAL CARE, AND SEXUAL SELECTION Fishes exhibit the full gamut of mating systems, from strict monogamy to rampant polygynandry, polygyny and polyandry (Avise et al., 2002), reflecting ecological opportunities, sexual conflict, sexual selection, and physiological constraints. Most fishes are gonochoris- tic, having separate sexes. Differentiation of the sexes *Corresponding author. E-mail: agjones@tamu.edu Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103, 735–760. With 5 figures © 2011 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2011, 103, 735–760 735 Downloaded from https://academic.oup.com/biolinnean/article-abstract/103/4/735/2452571 by guest on 20 May 2020