Alternative male mating tactics in the black goby, Gobius niger

In the field, parental males of the black goby Gobius niger were always>9 cm LT, showed a conspicuous elongation of the first dorsal fin, and were darkly coloured. Larger parental males did not occupy larger nests or obtain more eggs, suggesting that over a threshold size reproductive success was not correlated with male size. The mating system was polygynous with different egg clutches simultaneously present in a nest. Smaller sexually mature males were observed around and inside nests in which spawning was occurring. These opportunistic males ranged in body size between 6 to 8 cm LT. In contrast to parental males, they did not show an exaggeration of the first dorsal fin and were cryptically coloured, thus resembling small females in their external morphology. Aquarium experiments confirmed that smaller males perform a sneaking behaviour, releasing sperm when parental males spawn. As a consequence, it is possible to define three male types: type I are small, without an elongated dorsal fin and adopt a sneaking mating tactic; type III are large, have a pronounced elongation of the dorsal fin and perform parental behaviour; type II are intermediate both in size and elongation of the first dorsal fin and behave as either as sneakers or, possibly, as parental males according to nest availability and male competition.