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K. A Stiver, J. L Fitzpatrick, J. K Desjardins, and S. Balshine (2009)

Mixed parentage in Neolamprologus pulcher groups

Journal of Fish Biology, 74(5):1129-1135.

Genetic data collected on co-operatively breeding Neolamprologus pulcher groups from Lake Tanganyika revealed mixed parentage in 80\% of the groups examined. A case (1/11) of shared maternity was detected where a subordinate female bred alongside the dominant female in a social group. Extra-pair paternity was assigned to other dominant males who held their own social groups, but subordinate males were not found to father young in any group (0/9).

cichlidae exclusion maternity paternity reproductive skew cooperatively breeding fish cichlid fish reproductive parasitism helpers dispersal paternity consequences relatedness males size