10.5061/DRYAD.5F4D8
Wearmouth, Victoria
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Southall, Emily
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Morritt, David
University of London
Thompson, Richard C.
Plymouth University
Cuthill, Innes C.
University of Bristol
Partridge, Julian
Sims, David W.
University of Southampton
Partridge, Julian C.
University of Bristol
Data from: Year-round sexual harassment as a behavioral mediator of
vertebrate population dynamics
Dryad
dataset
2012
mammal
Scyliorhinus canicula
Sex
small-spotted catshark
dimorphism
telemetry
elasmobranch
habitat and social segregation
2012-08-10T20:22:08Z
2012-08-10T20:22:08Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1890/11-2052.1
202093 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Within-species sexual segregation is a widespread phenomenon among
vertebrates but its causes remain a topic of much debate. Female avoidance
of male coercive mating attempts has the potential to influence the social
structure of animal populations, yet it has been largely overlooked as a
driver of sexual separation. Indeed, its potential role in long-term
structuring of natural populations has not been studied. Here we use a
comparative approach to examine the suitability of multiple hypotheses
forwarded to account for sexual segregation (i.e. activity budget;
predation risk; thermal niche - fecundity; and social factors) as drivers
underlying sex-specific habitat use in a monomorphic model vertebrate, the
small spotted catshark, Scyliorhinus canicula. Using this
hypothesis-driven approach we show that year-round sexual habitat
segregation in S. canicula can be accounted for directly by female
avoidance of male sexual harassment. Long-term electronic tracking reveals
sperm-storing female catsharks form daytime refuging aggregations in
shallow water caves (~3.2 m water depth), and undertake nocturnal foraging
excursions into deeper water (~25 m) most nights. In contrast, males
occupy deeper, cooler habitat (~18 m) by day, and exploit a range of
depths nocturnally (1 - 23 m). Males frequent the locations of shallow
water female refuges, apparently intercepting females for mating when they
emerge from, and return to, refuges on foraging excursions. Females partly
compensate for higher metabolic costs incurred when refuging in warmer
habitat by remaining inactive; however, egg production rates decline in
the warmest months, but despite this, refuging behavior is not abandoned.
Thermal choice experiments confirm individual females are willing to
'pay' in energy terms to avoid aggressive males and unsolicited
male mating attempts. Long-term evasion of sexual harassment influences
both the social structure and fecundity of the study population with
females trading-off potential injury and unsolicited matings with longer
term fitness. This identifies sexual harassment as a persistent cost to
females that can mediate vertebrate population dynamics.
11-2052 dataMS Excel spreadsheet containing data obtained under natural
(field) and controlled (laboratory) conditions. Individual S. canicula
were electronically tracked in the natural environment, whilst in the
laboratory the movements of individuals were tracked using video tracking
techniques. Observations made under both natural and controlled conditions
are also included. See manuscript materials and methods for further
details.
Western Atlantic