Maternal effects, paternal effects, and their interactions in the freshwater snail Physa acuta

Individuals exposed to predation risk can produce offspring with altered phenotypes. Most work on predation-induced parental effects has focused on maternal effects or on generalized parental effects where both parents are exposed to risk. We conducted an experiment to measure and compare maternal and paternal effects on offspring phenotypes and test for interactions in those effects. We exposed 82 snails from 22 lines to control or predator cues and created line dyads with the four possible mating pairings of control and predator cue exposed individuals. We measured the resulting body masses, shell masses, shell shapes, and anti-predator behaviors of the offspring. We found some evidence that offspring were larger and heavier when the mother was exposed to predation cues, but that this effect was negated when the father was also exposed. The mass of offspring shells relative to their total mass was unaffected by parental treatments. Shell shape was marginally affected by maternal treatment, but not paternal treatment. Behavioral responses to cues were not affected by maternal or paternal treatments. Our results suggest potential conflict between male and female parental effects and highlight the importance of examining the interactions of maternal and paternal effects.