山本 俊昭

To clarify the effect of paternal life-history form and egg size on offspring life-history traits (e.g., growth and maturation) in masu salmon (Oncorhynchus masou), we studied an artificially fertilized population for 3 years using mark-recapture methods. The body size of offspring in early life was associated with egg size, but not paternal life-history form. By contrast, the growth rate of individuals during summer and winter seasons was not influenced by egg size or paternal life-history form. Movement within the tributary differed between males and females, with more females moving downstream during early life stages compared to males. However, the effects of egg size and paternal life-history form on the movement of offspring were not detected. Out of 192 males that remained in the tributary, 77 had relatively large body sizes and reached sexual maturity at one year old. The probability of maturation was associated with the body size in September, but not with paternal life-history form and egg size. We concluded that offspring life-history traits are profoundly influenced by environmental conditions, whereas they are slightly influenced by parental genetic effects.

Offspring growth is greatly influenced by both the maternal and paternal genotypes. However, although the effects of maternal genotype on offspring growth are recognised widely, ecological studies of the paternal genotype have not focused on the links with physiological traits, especially at the embryo stage. In this study, we conducted three experiments to determine the effects of two contrasting paternal life history traits (anadromous males, which return to their natal rivers for spawning after migrating to the sea, and resident males, which mature in rivers without migrating to the sea) on offspring growth during early life based on the metabolic rate in masu salmon Oncorhynchus masou. In the first experiment, metabolic rates of fertilised eggs were compared between 24 half-sibships. Results suggested that the metabolic rate of embryos was higher for the offspring of resident males than of anadromous males. In the second experiment, the body sizes of 133 half-sibships at the yolk-sac absorption stage were compared. The offspring from the resident males were larger, which could be related to metabolic rate differences at the embryo stage associated with paternal life history. In the third experiment, the differences in body size observed at the yolk-sac absorption stage were positively correlated with growth after 60 days of fry rearing. Our findings, taken together with previous demonstrations that faster-growing males tend to become younger resident males, are thus consistent with early growth and associated traits, such as metabolic rate, being heritable from the male parent to the offspring.

Offspring traits are influenced by complex interactions among parent genotypes and phenotypes. However, ecological studies of these effects have tended to focus on one of either maternal or paternal influences. In this study, we investigated the effects of both parental phenotypes on offspring dispersal, growth and early sexual maturity in masu salmon. We used wild-caught parental fish in a half-sib mating design that allowed comparison of offspring from males of two different life-history types (precocious males that had lived only in fresh water and anadromous males that had migrated to the sea). These males were mated with anadromous females and the eggs planted in natural streams in three different years. Natal dispersal distance depended on offspring sex, body size and paternal life history: female offspring moved further downstream than males, whilst daughters of precocious fathers tended to move further downstream than those of anadromous sires. There was a maternal effect on offspring growth, with larger eggs resulting in larger offspring at least until these became precociously mature at the end of the first summer. However, while faster growing male offspring were more likely to become precociously mature, there was no evidence that the probability of precocious maturation was influenced by parental life history. We conclude that, although body size of young salmon was significantly influenced by egg size and there were sex differences in dispersal, their growth rate and divergence in life history types were mainly environmentally driven.

Despite being well-researched in several other bear species, the act of infanticide has yet to be documented in Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus). We captured video footage of an apparent infanticide event in May 2016 using sensor cameras placed outside the winter den of a known female in Nagano Prefecture, Japan. We observed the presence of a known male outside the den, interacting with the female and her offspring. The female ultimately died and her body did not appear to have been consumed by the male bear. From our observations we considered both sexually selected infanticide and nutritional demand as possible motives behind the male's attack.

We analyzed the genotypes of three pregnant females and their litters to investigate the phenomenon of multiple paternity in wild raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) using 17 microsatellite markers. If a female has mated with only one male during estrus, then the maximum number of paternal alleles will not exceed two among littermates with the same father. The results revealed two out of three litters had three or four paternal alleles at one or five microsatellite loci. Therefore, the female had mated with more than one male during estrus. To the best of our knowledge, the present study is the first to report the possibility of multiple paternity in wild raccoon dogs.