Kenyon Mobley Research

Research Interests

Maturation and Reproduction
Ecological Speciation
Population Genetics
Sexual Selection
Evolution of Female Ornaments
Parental Care and Alternative Reproductive Tactics
Sex, Parasites, and Behavior
Environmental Change

Maturation and Reproduction

Maturation in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar, Salmonidae): a synthesis of ecological, genetic, and molecular processes. Mobley KB, Aykanat T*, Czorlich Y*, House A*, Kurko J*, Miettinen A*, Moustakas-Verho J*, Salgado A*, Sinclair-Waters M*, Verta J-P*, Primmer CR. Preprint available at https://ecoevorxiv.org/u8zjm/ [*authors listed alphabetically].

Mobley KB, Granroth-Wilding H, Ellmen M, Orell P, Erkinaro J, Primmer CR. 2020. Time spent in distinct life history stages has sex‐specific effects on reproductive fitness in wild Atlantic salmon. Molecular Ecology. 29:1173-1184

Maitre D*, Selmoni OM*, Uppal A*, Marques da Cunha L, Wilkins LGE, Roux J, Mobley KB, Castro I, Knörr S, Robinson-Rechavi M, Wedekind C. 2017. Sex differentiation in grayling (Salmonidae) goes through an all-male stage and is delayed in genetic males who instead grow faster. Scientific Reports. 7:15024 [* shared first authorship]

This research investigates how life-history and large-effect maturation loci (e.g. vgll3, six6, akap11) influence maturation and reproduction in salmonid fishes such as Atlantic salmon. I use a multi-generational pedigrees from adults and juveniles to study how adult traits influence reproduction and offspring survival, as well as patterns of dispersal and movement of juveniles. I am also interested in how environmental factors such as diet and temperature influence sperm and egg quality, fertilization success, and offspring fitness. The goal of this research is to understand maturation and reproductive behavior and how it relates to sexual conflict, life-history trade-offs and reproductive fitness. Research generated from these projects will help inform aquaculture, fisheries management, and conservation endeavors of these important commercial food and sport fishes.

Ecological Speciation

Öhlund G, Bodin M, Nilsson KA, Öhlund S-O, Mobley KB, Hudson AG, Peedu M, Brannstrom A, Bartels P, Praebel K, Hein CL, Johansson P, Englund G. 2020. Ecological speciation in European whitefish is driven by a large-gaped predator. Evolution Letters. 4:243-256

Mobley KB*, Granroth-Wilding H*, Ellmen M, Vähä J-P, Aykanat T, Johnston SE, Orell P, Erkinaro J, Primmer CR. 2019. Home ground advantage: local Atlantic salmon have higher reproductive fitness than dispersers in the wild. 2019. Science advances. 5:2/eaav1112

Mobley KB, Lussetti D, Johansson F, Englund G, Bokma F. 2011. Morphological and genetic divergence in Swedish postglacial stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) populations. BMC Evolutionary Biology. 11:287

Can we find the genetic signatures of local adaptation in natural populations? How do ecological conditions shape morphological and genetic variation? Can we uncover evidence for rapid speciation in populations that have been subjected to recent introductions of species by man? These are the types of questions I’m interested in answering concerning ecological speciation. Salmonids and stickleback are excellent models for this type of research because they were impacted by Pleistocene glacial events and recent introductions by humans.

Population Genetics

Braga Goncalves I, Cornetti L, Couperus BS, van Damme CJG, Mobley KB. 2017. Phylogeography of the snake pipefish, Entelurus aequoreus (Family: Syngnathidae) in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 122, 787-800.

Mobley KB, Small CM, Jones AG. 2011. The genetics and genomics of Syngnathidae (pipefishes, seahorses and seadragons). Journal of Fish Biology. 78: 1624-1646.

Mobley KB, Small C, Jue, N, Jones AG. 2010. Population structure of the dusky pipefish, Syngnathus floridae as revealed by microsatellite and mitochondrial DNA analysis. Journal of Biogeography, 37: 1363-1377.

The introduction of molecular techniques to the study of species distributions has greatly improved our knowledge regarding the evolutionary history of species. Linking genetic data with species historical and geographic information can aid conservation efforts by identifying genetically independent populations or units to help inform management. To this end, studies on population genetics are important to understand present and historical species distributions, to understand range shifts and expansions, and to help predict how species will respond to future climate challenges.

Sexual Selection

Mobley KB. 2014. “Mating systems and the measurement of sexual selection”. In: Animal Behavior. Vol II: Function and Evolution of Animal Behavior. Editor Ken Yasukawa. ABC-CLIO, Santa Barbara, CA.

Mobley KB, Jones AG. 2013. Overcoming statistical bias to estimate genetic mating systems in open populations: a comparison of Bateman’s principles between the sexes in a sex-role-reversed pipefish. Evolution. 67:646-660.

Mobley KB, Jones AG. 2009. Environmental, demographic, and genetic mating system variation among five geographically distinct dusky pipefish (Syngnathus floridae) populations. Molecular Ecology, 18: 1476–1490.

Explaining the baffling diversity of mating behaviors and gaudy ornaments in species has fascinated researchers since the time of Darwin. My contributions to this field include investigating how sexual selection varies in different populations or in the same population over time. I use a combination of theory, molecular techniques, experiments and field studies to identify specific ecological factors that may explain such variation in sexual selection. I am also interested in understanding how post-copulatory sexual selection, or the potential for either males or females to manipulate the outcome of mating competition after sex, affect sexual selection via gamete competition or cryptic gamete choice.

Evolution of Female Ornaments

Mobley KB, Morrongiello JR, Warr M, Bray DJ, Wong BBM. 2018. Female ornamentation and the fecundity trade-off in a sex-role reversed pipefish. Ecology and Evolution. 8, 9516-9525.

In many animals, males are the more splendid looking sex. In a small handful of species, females are more elaborately decorated than males and/or display ornaments that are not present in males. Female ornamentation has reached an apex in the pipefishes (Family Synganthidae) that display a remarkable diversity of female ornamentation including temporary and permanent breeding coloration and marks, extreme sexual dimorphism, and skinfolds and keels. The goal of these investigations is to understand how and why female ornaments evolve in nature.

Parental Care and Alternative Reproductive Tactics

Monroe MJ, Amundsen T, Utne-Palm AC, Mobley KB. 2016. Seasonal variation in male alternative reproductive tactics. Journal of Evolutionary Biology. 29: 2362-2372.

Wacker SB, Amundsen T, Forsgren E, Mobley KB. 2014. Within-season variation in sexual selection in a fish with dynamic sex roles. Molecular Ecology. 23: 3587-3599.

Mobley KB, Partridge C, Ahnesjö I, Kvarnemo C, Berglund A, Jones AG. 2011. The effect of maternal body size on within-brood survivorship in a sex-role-reversed pipefish. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 65: 1169-1177.

I am interested in how and why various forms of parental care and mating tactics evolve. Fishes are a fantastic group to investigate the costs of paternal care and the evolution of alternative mating strategies such as sneaking behaviors for several reasons. Fishes display the widest range of reproductive strategies than any other vertebrate lineage and as a consequence, many unusual and unique forms of mating strategies and parental care have evolved. Furthermore, male parental care is more common in fishes than any other taxonomic group. Gobies and pipefishes are exceptional models to work with on these topics because high costs of paternal care can lead to stronger sexual selection to occur in females - a situation that is fairly rare in other branches of the animal kingdom.

Sex, Parasites, and Behavior

My research investigates how parasites influence reproductive behavior and the evolution of mating decisions. The goal of this research is to see how parasites affect mate choice by altering the behavior and reproduction of individuals that are exposed to parasites. Here, I focus on the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) as a bridge between mate choice and parasite defense. I also investigate MHC-mediated mate choice in nine-spined stickleback to compare to the relatively well-studied three-spined stickleback system.

Environmental change

Anthropogenic challenges such as climate change and pollution can disrupt normal reproductive behavior. Here, I investigate how anthropogenic pollutants such as endocrine disruptors (e.g., 17β-estradiol) affect reproduction of fishes. Salmonids (whitefish, brown trout, grayling and Atlantic salmon) and sticklebacks are ecologically-relevant study species as they are dependent upon freshwater ecosystems for reproduction and may be exposed to high doses of contaminants at various stages of their life cycles. The ultimate goal of this research is to understand how pollution and climate change may impact aquatic species in order to predict how species will respond in the future.