page_title: Spawn (biology)
section_title: Cuckoldry
hierarchical_section_title: Spawn (biology) / Sexual strategies / Cuckoldry
caption_attribution_description: العربية: شقائق النُعمان البنفسجيَّة (Heteractis magnifica) وسمكتا شقائق مُستوطنتين (Amphiprion ocellaris) (المشهورة باسم سمك المُهرِّج) في تيمور الشرقيَّة. English: Purple anemone (Heteractis magnifica) and resident anemonefish (Amphiprion ocellaris) (clownfish) in East Timor. Español: Anémona púrpura (Heteractis magnifica) y peces payaso (Amphiprion ocellaris) en Timor Oriental. Français&#160;: Une anémone pourpre (Heteractis magnifica) avec des Poissons-clown à trois bandes (Amphiprion ocellaris), photographiés au large du Timor Oriental. Tiếng Việt: Một đôi cá hề Ocellaris (Amphiprion ocellaris) trong bụi hải quỳ. Ảnh chụp ở Đông Timor.
context_page_description: Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, to spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquatic mammals and reptiles, reproduce through the process of spawning.
  Spawn consists of the reproductive cells of many aquatic animals, some of which will become fertilized and produce offspring. The process of spawning typically involves females releasing ova into the water, often in large quantities, while males simultaneously or sequentially release spermatozoa to fertilize the eggs.
  Most fish reproduce by spawning, as do most other aquatic animals, including crustaceans such as crabs and shrimps, molluscs such as oysters and squid, echinoderms such as sea urchins and sea cucumbers, amphibians such as frogs and newts, aquatic insects such as mayflies and mosquitoes and corals, which are actually small aquatic animals—not plants. Fungi, such as mushrooms, are also said to "spawn" a white, fibrous matter that forms the matrix from which they grow.
context_section_description: Alternate male strategies which allow small males to engage in cuckoldry can develop in species where spawning is dominated by large and aggressive males. Cuckoldry is a variant of polyandry, and can occur with sneak spawners (sometimes called streak spawners). A sneak spawner is a male that rushes in to join the spawning rush of a spawning pair. A spawning rush occurs when a fish makes a burst of speed, usually on a near vertical incline, releasing gametes at the apex, followed by a rapid return to the lake or sea floor or fish aggregation. Sneaking males do not take part in courtship. In salmon and trout, for example, jack males are common. These are small silvery males that migrate upstream along with the standard, large, hook-nosed males and that spawn by sneaking into a redd (spawning nest) to release sperm simultaneously with a mated pair. This behaviour is an evolutionarily stable strategy for reproduction, because it is favoured by natural selection just like the "standard" strategy of large males.
  Cuckoldry occurs in many fish species, including dragonets, parrotfishes and wrasses on tropical reefs and the bluegill sunfish in fresh water. Sneaker males that become too large to hide effectively become satellite males. With bluegill sunfish, satellite males mimic the behaviour and colouration of the females. They hover over a nest containing a pair of courting sunfish, and gradually descend to reach the pair just as they spawn. Males may need to be 6 or 7 years old to function capably as parental males, but may be able to function as sneaker or satellite males when they are as young as 2 or 3 years old. The smaller satellite and sneaker males may get mauled by the more powerful parental males, but they spawn when they are younger and they do not put energy into parental care.
caption: An anemone fish couple guarding their anemone. If the female dies, a juvenile male moves in, and the resident male changes sex.
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