Antechinus stuartii

semelparous

The Antechinus stuartii is a semelparous species wherein the

male dies shortly after mating. This is caused by increased
physiological stress from the aggression, competition, and
heightened activity during mating season. Increased stress
levels also cause the suppression of the immune system which
leaves the Antechinus vulnerable to diseases.

Antechinus, both male and female, reach reproductive maturity within 285 days or about 9
months on average. And due to the circumstances of their reproduction, the males have an
average lifespan of slightly less than a year as they die shortly after mating in their eleventh or
twelfth month of life. As for the females, though they can live for over two years, many of them
die in the wild after producing their first litter. This makes it so that A. stuartii only have a single
breeding season each year, restricted to three months and producing one litter per year - and
predictably their lifetime as well.

Female Antechinus lack a pouch but instead have a variable number of exposed nipples which
the young cling to as they mature. This actually dictates the number of offspring produced for
each litter. As many young as the number of nipples an Antechinus mother has are usually born.
The number of nipples varies by habitat. Females have lesser nipples in wetter areas and those
that live in drier areas usually have more. On average, A. stuartii produce 7 offspring per litter
(Secord 2000).

Balaena mysticetus
iteroparous

The bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus) is an

iteroparous species that can live for as long as
over 100 years. In fact, some have even been
estimated to live past 200 years. The average
gestation period for bowhead whales lasts
around 369 days or 13-14 months and one
offspring is produced (Justice 2002). On
average, it takes about 8,212 days or around
20 years for these whales to reach reproductive
maturity (AnAge).

This is a stark contrast to semelparous species that shortly die after mating but are able to
produce multiple offspring per litter. Although it takes years for B. mysticetus to reach sexual
maturity and they only produce one offspring at a time, they make up for it with their longevity -
being able to live for hundreds of years.
Labroides dimidiatus
protogynous

The Indo-Pacific cleaner fish (Labroides

dimidiatus) is a species of fish possessing the
characteristic of sequential hermaphroditism,
particularly protogyny where an organism
starts life as a female and then transitions into
male. The change in sex is triggered by a
social factor wherein the social hierarchy
between this species is linked to body size.
Cleaner fish live in harems and the largest
among the group is the sole dominant male
while the rest are female (Stockholm
University).

When the male fish is removed or outsized by one of the females, the largest among the group
switches sex and adopts full male breeding behaviours. High levels of stress appear to be
involved in the temperature-based sex determination of cleaner fish - including other fish and
reptiles. Sex hormone levels are affected by the cortisol, causing female hormones and genes
such as oestrogen rapidly shut down while the contrasting male genes that are responsible for
the production of male hormones such as androgens are switched on (Graves et al. 2020).

Acanthopagrus schlegeli
protandrous

Black porgy fish (Acanthopagrus schlegeli) are

protandrous species with a life cycle as a functional male
at the juvenile stage and sexually transitioning to female
at 3 years of age. The fish possesses a bisexual gonad
which is made up of testicular and ovarian tissue
separated by a connective tissue (Lee et al. 2001). At the
age of 4 months, the black porgy’s gonad starts to
differentiate and further develop into a bisexual gonad up
until 3 years of age. An antagonistic relationship between
the testicular and ovarian tissues are observed during the
development of the bisexual gonad tissue with an
increased expression of female-promoting genes and
diminishing of male-promoting genes. Endocrine
mechanisms also play a role in the sex change by further
inducing the expression of female-promoting genes at a
precocious rate (Wu et al. 2010).
References:

Secord R. 2000. Antechinus stuartii. Animal Diversity Web; [accessed 2023 March 03].
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Antechinus_stuartii.

AnAge. Date unknown. AnAge entry for Balaena mysticetus; [accessed 2023 March 03].
https://genomics.senescence.info/species/entry.php?species=Balaena_mysticetus.

Justice J. 2002. Balaena mysticetus. Animal Diversity Web; [accessed 2023 March 03].
https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Balaena_mysticetus.

Stockholm University. Date unknown. Cleaner fish change sex – and intellectual abilities;
[updated 2021 July 14; accessed 2023 March 03].
https://www.su.se/english/news/cleaner-fish-change-sex-and-intellectual-abilities-1.565
316#:~:text=The%20cleaner%20fish%20(Labroides%20dimidiatus,change%20sex%20to
%20become%20male.

Graves J. et al. 2020. What we learn from fish that change sex. La Trobe University; [accessed
2023 March 03].
https://www.latrobe.edu.au/news/articles/2020/opinion/what-we-learn-from-fish-that-ch
ange-sex.

Lee Y. et al. 2001. Sex change in the protandrous black porgy, Acanthopagrus schlegeli: A review
in gonadal development, estradiol, estrogen receptor, aromatase activity and
gonadotropin. JoEZ. [accessed 03 March 2023]; 290(7): 715-726.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jez.1122. doi: 10.1002/jez.1122.

Wu GC. et al. 2010. Sex differentiation and sex change in the protandrous black porgy,
Acanthopagrus schlegeli. GaCE. [accessed 03 March 2023]; 167(3): 417-421.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016648009004146?via%3Dihub.
doi: 10.1016/j.ygcen.2009.11.003.