Effects of age, size, and mating history on sex role decision of a simultaneous hermaphrodite.

ABSTRACT: Contrasting with separate-sexed animals, simultaneous hermaphrodites display unique reproductive strategies as they are male and female at the same time. Simultaneous hermaphrodites that copulate unilaterally, for instance, make a decision to mate as a male or female. Previous studies have demonstrated that sex role preference in hermaphrodites is flexible and is controlled by several, often confounding, factors. We examined the relationship between sex role decisions and 3 life-history traits (age, size, and mating history) in the great pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis. Based on our field observations, which indicate that adult individuals show overlapping generations and large variation in body size during the breeding season, we performed a sex role choice experiment in the laborato

SUBMITTER: Nakadera Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4309981 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan-Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature