VMSC Postgraduate Award

Congratulations to ZOE SQUIRES- our winner in 2010

Zoe is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, supervised by Dr. Devi Stuart-Fox, Dr. Bob Wong (Monash University) and Dr. Mark Norman (Museum Victoria).

Zoe's project title is: The evolution of female multiple mating (polyandry) in dumpling squid (Euprymna tasmanica). Cephalopods (octopus, squid, nautilus and cuttlefish) exhibit a diverse array of reproductive behaviours; from sexual cannibalism in octopus to female mimicry in cuttlefish. However, multiple mating is common to all cephalopod genera and is also surprisingly widespread across the whole animal kingdom. The evolutionary mechanisms behind multiple mating are intuitive from the male perspective; typically males produce a large number of sperm and therefore have the potential to fertilise eggs from a number of females. However, in species where there are no material benefits to mating (e.g. no provision of food), and no parental care by the male, mating multiply may in fact come at a cost to the female. These costs range from an increase in the risk of predation or/and a decrease in foraging time to risk of injury and reduced longevity from toxins in seminal fluid. So why then has female multiple mating evolved? One potential reason is that females mate multiply to ensure fertilisation of all her eggs. Another hypothesis is that mating multiply will increase the chance of acquiring genetically superior or genetically compatible sperm. Answering this question is currently one of the most exciting yet least understood areas of evolutionary biology and has important implications for gene flow and the maintenance of genetic variation.

Zoe gained some valuable research and work experience during her undergraduate degree, including working at the Dolphin Research Institute in Hastings and volunteering at the Marine Discovery Centre (Queenscliff). She completed her honours degree on the effects of salinity on native frog populations at Monash University, and stayed there as a research assistant in the field of freshwater ecology. When the opportunity to move into the field of marine biology and work on a cephalopod came up, Zoe jumped at the chance and started her PhD late in 2009.

Congratulations ZOE

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