Meeting Abstract

P2.89  Monday, Jan. 5  Linking reproduction, swimming performance, and habitat use in the Trinidadian Guppy, Poecilia reticulata BANET, Amanda I*; SVENDSEN, Jon C.; ENG, Kevin J.; University of California, Riverside; University of Copenhagen, Denmark; University of California, Riverside amanda.banet@email.ucr.edu

Lab studies have shown that pregnancy reduces locomotor ability, increases predation risk, and may translate into a reduction in fitness. Understanding costs of pregnancy on locomotion is thus important in understanding the evolution of reproductive mode and associated life history traits. We investigate the link between reproduction, locomotion, and habitat use using Trinidadian Guppy (Poecilia reticulata) populations that exist in either high or low predation regimes. Female guppies were collected from two high and two low predation streams. Presence of predators and small-scale variation in water flow velocity in the capture localities were recorded. We predicted that pregnant females, particularly those at the more costly later stages of pregnancy, preferentially use regions of the habitat with the lowest water velocity and least number of predators. We also predicted that females with a higher reproductive allocation would have an inhibited escape response and a higher tailbeat frequency and amplitude when swimming a fixed speed. To verify that females collected in different sections of the drainages do exhibit differences in locomotory performance, fish were transported to a nearby lab where escape response and tailbeat frequency and amplitude were measured. Immediately following performance trials, females were sacrificed and preserved for dissection to garner reproductive data. This study connects previous studies that have examined either performance or behavior by linking an individual’s behavior in a natural setting to swimming performance. Results will be discussed.