FILIAL CANNIBALISM AND MALE PARENTAL CARE IN DAMSELFISHES

Two forms of filial cannibalism, in which an individual consumes its o wn offspring, have been observed among male damselfishes: whole-clutch and partial-clutch filial cannibalism. Observations of this behavior among damselfishes are reviewed here and the results suggest that fili al cannibalism may be quite widespread. This has implications for the costs and benefits of male parental care, because guarding males have unimpeded access to embryos as a source of energy. Thus, a graphical m odel is explored to evaluate the interaction between the costs and ben efits of male filial cannibalism and male parental care. The results o f this analysis suggest that the dichotomy between whole-clutch and pa rtial-clutch filial cannibalism can be explained by the occurrence of depreciable parental care in fishes.