Amanda Vincent is at the Dept of Zoology, South Parks Road, Oxford, UK OX1 3PS.
Trends Ecol Evol. 1992 Jul;7(7):237-41. doi: 10.1016/0169-5347(92)90052-D.
The male pregnancy of pipefishes and seahorses has led to the inference that females compete most intensely for access to mates, because males limit female reproduction. However, recent work has shown that in different species either sex may be the predominant competitor for mates. In this family, there is an apparent association between the mating pattern and the sex roles: polygamous species show reversed sex roles whereas monogamous species exhibit 'conventional' sex roles. These studies emphasize that sex role reversal is not synonymous with male parental care.
雄性育儿鱼和海马的怀孕现象表明，雌性为了获得配偶而竞争最为激烈，因为雄性限制了雌性的繁殖。然而，最近的研究表明，在不同的物种中，任何一种性别都可能是争夺配偶的主要竞争者。在这个家族中，交配模式和性别角色之间存在明显的关联：多配偶物种表现出相反的性别角色，而单配偶物种则表现出“传统”的性别角色。这些研究强调，性别角色逆转并不等同于雄性亲代照顾。
