Egg-mediated maternal effects in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish

Mothers can influence offspring phenotype through egg-mediated maternal effects, which can be influenced by cues mothers obtain from their environment during offspring production. Developing embryos use these components but have mechanisms to alter maternal signals. Here we aimed to understand the role of mothers and embryos in how maternal effects might shape offspring social phenotype. In the cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher different social phenotypes develop in large and small social groups differing in predation risk and social complexity. We manipulated the maternal social environment of N. pulcher females during egg laying by allocating them either to a small or a large social group. We compared egg mass and clutch size and the concentration of corticosteroid metabolites between social environments, and between fertilized and unfertilized eggs to investigate how embryos deal with maternal signalling. Mothers in small groups produced larger clutches but neither laid smaller eggs nor bestowed eggs differently with corticosteroids. Fertilized eggs scored lower on a principal component representing three corticosteroid metabolites, namely 11-deoxycortisol, cortisone, and 11-deoxycorticosterone. We did not detect egg-mediated maternal effects induced by the maternal social environment. We discuss that divergent social phenotypes induced by different group sizes may be triggered by own offspring experience.