Heterandria formosa is a viviparous poeciliid native of the southeastern of United States of America. H. formosa exhibits unique reproductive features as: (a) production of extremely small eggs with scarce quantity of yolk (microlecithal eggs), (b) consequently, a high level of matrotrophy and development of a complex follicular placenta, (c) ovarian sperm storage that allows the continuous fertilization of oocytes and production of offspring and (d) development of high degree of superfetation. The degree of superfetation refers to the number of broods in different simultaneous stages of gestation. Morphological evidence of the degree of superfetation in H. formosa has not been documented. Therefore, and because of the general interest in the complex process of superfetation, the goal of this study is to morphologically define the degree of superfetation of H. formosa through two procedures: (a) histological analysis of entire ovaries in gestation and (b) dissection of visible embryos and the histological analysis of the remaining ovarian tissue. Results indicate that H. formosa can gestate up to seven broods at the same time.
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Increased superfetation precedes the evolution of advanced degrees of placentotrophy in viviparous fishes of the family Poeciliidae.
Biol Lett
October 2022
Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México 04510, Mexico.
The causes and consequences of the evolution of placentotrophy (post-fertilization nutrition of developing embryos of viviparous organisms by means of a maternal placenta) in non-mammalian vertebrates are still not fully understood. In particular, in the fish family Poeciliidae there is an evolutionary link between placentotrophy and superfetation (ability of females to simultaneously bear embryos at distinct developmental stages), with no conclusive evidence for which of these two traits facilitates the evolution of more advanced degrees of the other. Using a robust phylogenetic comparative method based on Ornstein-Uhlenbeck models of adaptive evolution and data from 36 poeciliid species, we detected a clear causality pattern.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPredation risk shapes the degree of placentation in natural populations of live-bearing fish.
Ecol Lett
May 2020
Department of Animal Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 WD, Wageningen, Netherlands.
The placenta is a complex life-history trait that is ubiquitous across the tree of life. Theory proposes that the placenta evolves in response to high performance-demanding conditions by shifting maternal investment from pre- to post-fertilisation, thereby reducing a female's reproductive burden during pregnancy. We test this hypothesis by studying populations of the fish species Poeciliopsis retropinna in Costa Rica.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuperfetation in the viviparous fish Heterandria formosa (Poeciliidae).
J Morphol
May 2019
Departamento de Biología Comparada, Facultad de Ciencias, Laboratorio de Biología de la Reproducción Animal, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México.
Heterandria formosa is a viviparous poeciliid native of the southeastern of United States of America. H. formosa exhibits unique reproductive features as: (a) production of extremely small eggs with scarce quantity of yolk (microlecithal eggs), (b) consequently, a high level of matrotrophy and development of a complex follicular placenta, (c) ovarian sperm storage that allows the continuous fertilization of oocytes and production of offspring and (d) development of high degree of superfetation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHave superfetation and matrotrophy facilitated the evolution of larger offspring in poeciliid fishes?
Biol J Linn Soc Lond
December 2015
Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Distrito Federal 04510, México.
Superfetation is the ability of females to simultaneously carry multiple broods of embryos, with each brood at a different developmental stage. Matrotrophy is the post-fertilization maternal provisioning of nutrients to developing embryos throughout gestation. Several studies have demonstrated that, in viviparous fishes, superfetation and matrotrophy have evolved in a correlated way, such that species capable of bearing several simultaneous broods also exhibit advanced degrees of post-fertilization provisioning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSuperfetation in live-bearing fishes is not always the result of a morphological constraint.
Oecologia
July 2016
Departamento de Ecología y Recursos Naturales, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, 04510, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico.
Superfetation is an unusual reproductive strategy that consists of the presence of multiple broods at different developmental stages within a single female. One hypothesis that was proposed to explain its adaptive significance suggests that, in fishes, superfetation is a response to selective pressures that promote a thin and streamlined body shape, such as high-velocity water systems. Superfetation may allow for reduction in ovary size and hence improve streamlining because superfetating females carry few large, full-term embryos at any given time.
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