Non-Random Sibling Cannibalism in the Marine Gastropod Crepidula coquimbensis

PLoS One. 2013 Jun 21;8(6):e67050. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0067050. Print 2013.

Abstract

Sibling cannibalism is commonly observed in marine species. For instance, intrabrood cannibalism has been documented in marine gastropods with direct development, suggesting a relationship between embryo behavior and the evolution of life history strategies. However, there has been little effort to document the factors driving sibling cannibalism in marine species. The kin selection theory suggests that the level of relatedness plays an important role in cannibalism patterns. We examined Crepidula coquimbensis, a marine gastropod that broods and encloses its brooded offspring in capsules. Encapsulated embryos show sibling cannibalism and high levels of intracapsular multiple paternity. Given these features, cannibalistic behavior may be driven by kin-relatedness. To test this hypothesis, we constructed artificial aggregations of embryos to mimic three levels of relatedness: high, medium and low. For each category of aggregation, the cannibalism rate and benefits (i.e. size at hatching of surviving offspring) were estimated. In addition, at the end of embryo development, we performed parentage analyses to determine if cannibalism was associated with the relatedness between cannibal and victim embryos. Our results show that the intensity of sibling cannibalism increased in aggregations characterized by the lowest level of relatedness. There were important benefits of cannibalism in terms of hatching cannibal size. In addition, cannibalism between embryos was not random: the variation in reproductive success between males increased over the course of the experiment and the effective number of fathers decreased. Altogether, these results suggest that polyandry may play an important role in the evolution of sibling cannibalism in C. coquimbensis and that kin selection may operate during early embryonic stages in this species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal / physiology
  • Cannibalism*
  • DNA / isolation & purification
  • DNA / metabolism
  • Female
  • Gastropoda / genetics
  • Gastropoda / physiology*
  • Genotype
  • Male
  • Microsatellite Repeats
  • Siblings

Substances

  • DNA

Grants and funding

AB received financial support from a CONICYT PhD scholarship (AT 24050187), French Ministry for Higher Education and Research, and the International Relations Department of the National Centre for Scientific (CNRS). Travel grants were provided by ECOS funds. AB thanks the IDEA Wild foundation and Fondecyt project # 11090221. MF thanks Fondecyt project # 1060489 and FONDAP-FONDECYT grant 1501-0001 to the Center for Advanced Studies in Ecology and Biodiversity. FV and AB were supported by the French National Research Agency (Project MIRAGE, No. ANR-05-BLAN-0001). FV, MF and AB acknowledge the CNRS for its financial support of the International Associated Laboratory DIAMS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.