Protandrous Hermaphroditism

In most animals, “males” and “females” are distinct classes of individuals that specialize in the production of sperm and eggs, respectively. However, a substantial minority of species are hermaphrodites, meaning that a single individual can produce both eggs and sperm, either simultaneously or at different stages of its life. “Protandrous” hermaphrodites begin their reproductive lives as males, but reproduce as females later in life.

Two examples help to illustrate (Fig. 1). Anemonefish live in small territorial groups, where reproduction and sex change are determined by a strict dominance hierarchy (Munday et al. 2006). The largest individual in the group is a breeding female, the second-largest is a breeding male, and all smaller individuals are nonbreeding males. If the female dies or is removed, then the...

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Authors and Affiliations

1. Division of Ecology and Evolution, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

   Jonathan M. Henshaw

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan M. Henshaw .

Editors and Affiliations

1. Oakland University , Rochester, Michigan, USA

   Jennifer Vonk

2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University Department of Psychology, Rochester, Michigan, USA

   Todd Shackelford

1. Laboratory of Comparative Ethology, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Poolesville, MD, USA

   Annika Paukner

Cite this entry

Henshaw, J.M. (2018). Protandrous Hermaphroditism. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1972-1

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• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1972-1

• Received: 08 October 2017

• Accepted: 13 October 2017

• Published: 23 October 2017

• Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

• Print ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

• Online ISBN: 978-3-319-47829-6

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