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Patterns of spermatophore distribution in Euchaeta norvegica: a further analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Tore Schweder
Affiliation:
Institute of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of Tromsø, Norway

Extract

In a study of the breeding biology of Euchaeta norvegica (Boeck), Hopkins & Machin (1977) analysed the placement and frequency distribution of spermatophores on females. They found the number of spermatophores on sampled females to be underdispersed relative to the Poisson distribution and concluded that ‘virgin’ females are more attractive to males than females with spermatophores attached. They fitted the Greenwood & Yule (1920) model but drew no conclusions.

The type of question which may be studied by fitting such a model is whether the attraction of males to ‘non-virgins’ is independent of the time since the first spermatophore was attached and also independent of the number of spermatophores already attached. This problem has been further investigated by fitting a version of the Greenwood & Yule model based on asynchronous recruitment of mature females. This version of the model is fully described in Schweder (1979); in this paper the results and biological implications are discussed.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1979

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References

REFERENCES

Greenwood, M. & Yule, G. U., 1920. An inquiry into the nature of frequency distributions representative of multiple happenings with particular reference to the occurrence of multiple attacks of disease or of repeated accidents. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 83, 255279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hopkins, C. C. E. & Machin, D., 1977. Patterns of spermatophore distribution and placement in Euchaeta norvegica (Copepoda: Calanoida). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 57, 113131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schweder, T., 1979. A statistical analysis of the mating behaviour of Euchaeta norvegica (Copepoda: Calanoida). Scandinavian Journal of Statistics, 6 (2). (In the Press.)Google Scholar