Taborsky M, Grantner A
Konrad Lorenz-Institut für Vergleichende Verhaltensforschung (KLIVV)
Anim Behav. 1998 Dec;56(6):1375-1382. doi: 10.1006/anbe.1998.0918.
We estimated the energy expenditures resulting from helping behaviour in the cooperatively breeding cichlid N. pulcher by measuring the metabolic rates directly associated with specific social and territory maintenance behaviours of individual pair males and females, and their helpers, in a respirometer. In pair males, pair females and helpers, routine metabolism was raised on average 4.4, 3.8 and 3.6 times, respectively, during agonistic behaviour. Helpers spent 3.3 and 6.1 times routine metabolism, respectively, on submissive behaviour (tail quivering) and digging. These estimates of energy expenditure were combined with laboratory time budgets, obtained previously, to calculate behavioural time-energy budgets for pair members and helpers. Both groups spent on average 98.5% of total metabolism on routine and standard metabolism. With regard to the energy expended on specific behaviours, pair males invested almost exclusively in intrafamily agonistic behaviour, while pair females and helpers shared the investment in territory maintenance and direct brood care. The behavioural energy budget of helpers was strongly determined by their submissive behaviour. This serves to maintain the social status of the helpers within the family hierarchy and may therefore be regarded as 'paying for staying', which may also be true for direct brood care and other helper duties. We conclude that the substantial energy expenditures associated with helping behaviours are probably partly responsible for the reduced growth rates of helpers. This is the first study in which energy expenditures associated with specific helping behaviours have been measured in brood care helpers, and it provides the first estimate of total behavioural energy expenditure in a cooperatively breeding fish. (c) 1998 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.
我们通过在呼吸测量仪中测量与成对的雄性和雌性及其帮手的特定社会行为和领地维护行为直接相关的代谢率，估算了合作繁殖的丽鱼科鱼类美丽新亮丽鲷（Neolamprologus pulcher）中帮助行为所产生的能量消耗。在成对的雄性、雌性和帮手中，在争斗行为期间，日常代谢平均分别提高了4.4倍、3.8倍和3.6倍。帮手在顺从行为（摆尾）和挖掘行为上分别消耗了3.3倍和6.1倍的日常代谢能量。这些能量消耗估算值与之前获得的实验室时间预算相结合，以计算成对成员和帮手的行为时间-能量预算。两组在日常和标准代谢上平均花费了总代谢的98.5%。关于在特定行为上消耗的能量，成对的雄性几乎完全将能量投入到家庭内部的争斗行为中，而成对的雌性和帮手则共同投入到领地维护和直接照顾幼鱼上。帮手的行为能量预算很大程度上由其顺从行为决定。这有助于维持帮手在家庭等级制度中的社会地位，因此可以被视为“为留下来付出代价”，这对于直接照顾幼鱼和其他帮手职责可能也是如此。我们得出结论，与帮助行为相关的大量能量消耗可能部分导致了帮手生长率的降低。这是第一项测量育雏帮手与特定帮助行为相关的能量消耗的研究，并且它提供了对合作繁殖鱼类总行为能量消耗的首次估算。（c）1998年动物行为研究协会。
