Comparing mating systems and the strength of sexual selection across three congeneric species of pipefish spanning the continuum of sexual dimorphism

Clicks: 13
ID: 332188
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #74 of 93 articles by views in journal of evolutionary biology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract The strength of sexual selection is often linked to genetic mating system and is thought to be a driving force in the evolution of sexual dimorphism. Here, we compared selection between males and females across three closely related species: the dusky (Syngnathus floridae), Northern (S. fuscus), and Gulf (S. scovelli) pipefishes, using new and previously published datasets. These three species exhibit male pregnancy but vary in mating systems and sexual dimorphism, enabling us to test if (i) the species differ in their opportunities for pre- and post-copulatory selection, (ii) females demonstrate a steeper Bateman gradient in polyandrous species, and (iii) sexually dimorphic traits are targets of selection. We quantified pre- and post-copulatory selection using a variance decomposition of the opportunity of selection, Bateman gradients, and selection differentials on snout-vent length. Pre-copulatory fitness was estimated with genetic mating success and post-copulatory fitness with the number of eggs stored and proportion of developed eggs. We found polygynandrous species had higher opportunities for selection in both sexes than the polyandrous species, S. scovelli. Despite S. scovelli showing large sex differences in the opportunity for selection and selection differentials, Bateman gradients varied little between sexes and across species. Pre-copulatory selection accounted for the largest opportunity for selection across all three species; however, we identified potential sexually antagonistic selection acting on body size in S. floridae and S. fuscus, and a trade-off between pre- and post-copulatory selection for female S. fuscus and S. scovelli. Overall, the largest differences emerged between polygynandrous and polyandrous species, with potential trade-offs across episodes of selection.
Reference Key
openalex_W7221592667 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Nicole M. Tosto, Emily Rose, Heather D Mason, Sarah Elizabeth Flanagan
Journal journal of evolutionary biology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jeb/voag112
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jeb/voag112
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.