Offspring performance is linked to parental identity and male breeding ornamentation in whitefish

The ‘good genes’ hypothesis predicts that males advertise their quality with different sexual ornaments and that females are able to recognize the genetic quality of males by evaluating these characteristics. In the present study, we investigated the parental effects on offspring performance (feeding and swimming ability of newly-hatched larvae) and examined whether male ornamentation indicates offspring success in performance trials of whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus Linnaeus). Offspring first-feeding success had a strong paternal effect and it was also positively correlated with the size of male breeding tubercles, indicating that breeding ornamentation of males can function as an honest i…