SREL Reprint #1850
Lipid Dynamics during Reproduction in Two Livebearing
Fishes, Gambusia holbrooki and Poecilia latipinna
Gary K. Meffe
University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Drawer E, Aiken, SC
29802, USA
and Franklin F. Snelson, Jr.
Department of Biology, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USA
In animals, strategies of energy allocation among growth, maintenance and
reproduction can be significantly altered by lipid storage. Poeciliid (livebearing)
fishes store energy in late summer and fall for overwintering and first
reproduction in spring, but details of energy use in reproduction are lacking. We
conducted a laboratory experimenton the eastern mosquitofish (Gambusia
Holbrooki) and the sailfin molly (Poecilia latipinna) to document changes in
lipid content in both the ovary and soma during development of a brood. In
females of both species, ovarian lipid content was highest early in embryogeny
and then declined; adult somatic lipids increased (were replenished) during
embryonic development in mosquitofish, but declined in mollies. Larger clutches
sequestered a larger share of body lipids in both species, possibly indicating
energetic limits to reproduction. Finally, growth rate was positively correlated
with somatic lipid content in both species, indicating among-individual differences
in metabolic efficiency or feeding efficiency rather than a trade-off between
growth and energy storage.
SREL Reprint #1850
Meffe, G.K. and F.F. Snelson Jr. 1993. Lipid dynamics during reproduction in two livebearing fishes, Gambusia holbrooki and Poecilia latipinna. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 50:2185-2191.
