A comparison of nuptial coloration and breeding behaviour in white and common marine threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) ecotypes

摘要

Background: In Nova Scotia, Canada, an endemic 'white' ecotype has evolved in sympatry with 'common' marine stickleback. Common males develop blue-green or brown dorsal coloration during mating, whereas white males become bright pearlescent white. White males also differ behaviourally from common males; they court females at a higher intensity and do not provide parental care. Both ecotypes occur along the oceanic coast of Nova Scotia and in the Bras d'Or Lake, an inland body of water on Cape Breton Island. Common marine stickleback from these two locations are genetically and morphologically distinct, but the phylogenetic relationship between white populations is not known. Furthermore, direct comparisons of mating behaviour and nuptial coloration between oceanic and Bras d'Or Lake stickleback have not been conducted for either ecotype.