Figure 7. Long-term Regenerative Defects Inhibit Male Spawning.

(A) Whole-mount images of pectoral fins at 2 months post-amputation (mpa). ‘Good’ indicates that all fin rays between the first to sixth fin rays have completely regenerated. ‘Mild’ indicates that 1–3 fin rays between first to sixth fin rays show defective regeneration. ‘Severe’ indicates that at least 4 of 6 fin rays between first to sixth fin rays failed to regenerate normally. Arrowheads indicate amputation planes.

(B) Cartoon summarizing experiments in which mating tests were performed 1–2 months after amputation.

(C) Pie charts with results of mating tests 1–2 months after amputation of caudal or pectoral fins, with each pectoral fin scored after mating as in (B). Males that regenerated more effectively stimulated better laying than those with defective regeneration. n = 13 to 75 animals as described in Table S3. The top P value is calculated from Fisher’s exact test between the ‘no amputation’ control and the experimental group for the percentage of successful matings, with 1 or more embryos considered successful (None vs. >1 embryos). The bottom P value is calculated from Fisher’s exact test between the ‘no amputation’ control and the experimental group for the percentage of successful matings, with 10 or more embryos considered successful (0–10 embryos vs. >10 embryos).

Scale bars = 500 μm (A)