Changes in courtship prior to oviposition in chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) and male preference for female body size

Abstract

Male chum salmon display a courtship behaviour involving an actively “quivering” against female, which is essential for female orgasm. Because generally male prefer larger female, we determined whether the elements of quivering such as the number, the amplitude, and the distance are affected by female body size. Additionally, quivering changes towards oviposition; therefore, we also identified the essential time for the male to succeed in his courtship behaviour. We conducted two experiments to measure quivering parameters: (i) measuring the number and the amplitude of quivering by the acceleration data logger and (ii) measuring the distance between sexes during quivering by observation of recorded video. From the first experiment, there was no significant relationship between the ratio of female-to-male body lengths and the number and the amplitude of quivering, while an important relationship between the body length ratio and the distance between sexes from the second experiment. Therefore, we think the distance is more significant than the number or vigour of quivering for male choice, and males quiver more closely to a larger female to increase reproductive success. In addition, when the body length ratio of the sexes is 1.01, the distance during quivering is the shortest. So, there is a possibility that the reproduction of chum salmon is based on size-assortative mating. And both experiments also showed that male quiver passively as spawning approaches. We suggest that males may not quiver actively for smooth mating as females spawning approaches.