Growth and age differences between two male alternative reproductive tactics in the plainfin midshipman

The plainfin midshipman (Porichthys notatus Girard, 1854) is a toadfish with two distinct reproductive male tactics: 'guarder males' and 'sneaker males'. These two tactics are anatomically, physiologically and behaviourally distinct from one another at sexual maturity, but it remained unclear whether these two male types remain fixed or plastically transition from one to another across a lifetime. To examine this question, we aged the sagittal …