Species suggestions?

So, as of right now we have made the decision to look for Lamprologus callipterus. I mentioned the idea of shellies to my supervisor and he got really excited remembering these guys. The main reason is sneaker males. So, we'll be looking at what causes the sneaker male life history and also maternal effects. He was mostly excited about the fact that to get to the eggs we'll likely be 3-D printing a shell with some sort of trap door so that we can actually get at the eggs. I'm kind of excited and will have an update soonish of anyone is interested =]
 
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That's actually the article we used to find the scientific name of the species when my supervisor couldn't remember it!

Here's the abstract of a recent paper that kind of gives an overview of the two male reproductive strategies

Abstract
Life history theory predicts that the amount of resources allocated to reproduc- tion should maximize an individual’s lifetime reproductive success. So far, resource allocation in reproduction has been studied mainly in females. Intra- specific variation of endogenous energy storage and utilization patterns of males has received little attention, although these patterns may vary greatly between individuals pursuing alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). ARTs are charac- terized by systematic variation of behavioral, physiological, and often morpho- logical traits among same-sex conspecifics. Some individuals may rely on previously accumulated reserves, because of limited foraging opportunities dur- ing reproduction. Others may be able to continue foraging during reproduc- tion, thus relying on reserves to a lesser extent. We therefore predicted that, if male tactics involve such divergent limitations and trade-offs within a species, ARTs should correspondingly differ in energy reserve allocation and utilization. To test this prediction, we studied short-term and long-term reserve storage patterns of males in the shell-brooding cichlid Lamprologus callipterus. In this species, bourgeois males investing in territory defense, courtship, and guarding of broods coexist with two distinct parasitic male tactics: (1) opportunistic sneaker males attempting to fertilize eggs by releasing sperm into the shell opening when a female is spawning; and (2) specialized dwarf males attempting to enter the shell past the spawning female to fertilize eggs from inside the shell. Sneaker males differed from other male types by showing the highest amount of accumulated short-term and long-term fat stores, apparently antic- ipating their upcoming adoption of the nest male status. In contrast, nest males depleted previously accumulated energy reserves with increasing nest holding period, as they invest heavily into costly reproductive behaviors while not tak- ing up any food. This conforms to a capital breeder strategy. Dwarf males did not accumulate long-term fat stores at all, which they can afford due to their small behavioral effort during reproduction and their continued feeding activ- ity, conforming to an income breeder strategy. Our data confirm that the resource storage patterns of males pursuing ARTs can diverge substantially, which adds to our understanding of the coexistence and maintenance of alter- native reproductive patterns within species.
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So, it seems like a little bit more has been done on them than we thought, but that should be fine. I still think there is enough to do that it will be ok.
 
I've read that there are two species (subs?); one in which the males are close to same size as the fems. Also read that in the sub that exhibits the sexual dimorphism, that sometimes rival males will steal a shell with a female in it and capture her for his own harem. That would be some awesome behavior to observe.

Mark
 
I have read a bit about shellies, and found them to be extremely interesting. I would like to hear about their behavior under lab conditions.
Brian
 
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