Sexual ornamentation and weapons of sexual conflict in cartilaginous fishes
Gayford, Joel H., Soares, Karla D., and Berio, Fidji (2025) Sexual ornamentation and weapons of sexual conflict in cartilaginous fishes. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 35. pp. 2217-2233.
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Abstract
Sexual selection and sexual conflict often result in the evolution of morphological traits that function to improve reproductive success, often termed sexual weapons and ornaments. Sexual weapons serve to increase the reproductive success of the ardent sex (typically males in dioecious taxa) by force, whereas sexual ornaments are considered ‘desirable’ by the opposite sex, or may exploit pre-existing sensory bias. Cartilaginous fishes (Chondrichthyes: sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras) exhibit a complex spectrum of reproductive modes and marked variation in the prevalence of genetic polyandry and multiple mating. For these reasons, Chondrichthyes represent an ideal group to study sexual selection, sexual conflict, and their evolutionary consequences. In this review, we summarise existing knowledge regarding the function of several putative ‘weapons of sexual conflict’ (sexual weaponry used to coerce or force females to mate) and ornaments possessed by cartilaginous fishes. Subsequently, we discuss what chondrichthyans and these traits can tell us about sexual selection more broadly, and we highlight major knowledge gaps in the field. A lack of observational data impedes our ability to make robust claims about the function of several traits. However, there is reason to suggest that weaponry resulting from sexually antagonistic selection is abundant in chondrichthyan taxa, whilst only one potential case of sexual ornamentation is known.
| Item ID: | 89254 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1573-5184 |
| Keywords: | Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii, Evolution, Sexual selection, Sexually antagonistic coevolution, Sharks |
| Copyright Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Date Deposited: | 17 Jul 2026 07:32 |
| FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 18 ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT > 1805 Marine systems and management > 180504 Marine biodiversity @ 100% |
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