Maria Berica Rasotto
Sexual selection in Telost fish
Maria Berica Rasotto, Lisa Locatello
The research group is interested on different aspects of pre- and post-copulatory sexual selection, using mostly goby and blenny fish as model species, and performing both laboratory and field work. The research is mainly focused on 1) the evolution of female choice for male multiple traits, both through the careful deciphering of signals’ content that may convey information on phenotypic and genetic quality of the mate, and the understanding of the decision making mechanism driving female choice; 2) the adaptive consequences of sperm competition (e.i. the competition between males’ ejaculates to fertilize the same set of ova) on different aspects of male behaviour, morphology and physiology that may affect the competitive success. In particular, the attention is currently focused on the influence of the ejaculates’ components (sperm and seminal fluid), and of their cross interaction on the fertilization success of males adopting alternative reproductive tactics.
Selected publications
Locatello L., Poli F., Rasotto M.B., 2015. Context-dependent evaluation of prospective mates in a fish. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 69(7): 1119-1126.
Locatello L., Poli F., Rasotto M.B., 2013. Tactic-specific differences in seminal fluid influence sperm performance. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 280 (1755):20122891.
Locatello L., Pizzolon M., Rasotto M.B. 2012. One trait, many signals: different information on male quality is enclosed within the same trait in a blenny fish. Naturwissenschaften 99: 863-867.
Pizzolon M., Locatello L., Warner R.R., Chimento N., Finos L., Rasotto M.B., 2012. Linking male qualities to multiple display traits: an example in a fish with exclusive male care. Behavioural Ecology and Sociobiology 66(3): 497-504.
Locatello L., Pilastro A., Deana R., Zarpellon A., Rasotto M.B., 2007. Variation pattern of sperm quality traits in two gobies with alternative mating tactics. Functional Ecology 21: 975-981.
