Melatonin and maturation pace in female three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

In many animals sexual maturation is controlled by the photoperiod. In mammals, the photoperiodic message is mediated via melatonin, but it is unclear whether this also applies to fishes. Administration of melatonin via the water on a schedule aimed at mimicking a short nonstimulatory photoperiod cycle has been found not to inhibit maturation in male three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, kept under stimulatory long photoperiods. To study whether melatonin affects maturation pace, adult female sticklebacks kept under stimulatory photoperiodic regimes of Light:Dark (LD) 24:0 h (Exp. 1) or LD 16:8 h (Exp. 2) and 18 degrees were treated with melatonin (0, 20, or 80 microg/L water) via the water for 16 h per day. In addition, females were also kept under a nonstimulatory short photoperiod (LD 8:16). The time at which full maturation was achieved (running roe) was noted and the ovaries of nonovulated fish were studied histologically. Most fish under LD 24:0 and LD 16:8 matured (maturation rates in Exp. 1 and 2, respectively: control, 100 and 86%; low-dose melatonin, 83 and 93%; high-dose melatonin, 90 and 75%), whereas almost all females kept under LD 8:16 remained immature (maturation rates: 0% in Exp. 1 and 3% in Exp. 2). There was no difference in maturation pace, proportion of fish maturing, or relative ovarian weights between controls and melatonin-treated fish kept under LD 16:8. Furthermore, there was no difference in proportion of fish maturing or relative ovarian weights between controls and melatonin-treated fish kept under LD 24:0. However, LD 24:0 controls matured significantly earlier than fish receiving the high melatonin dose. Thus, there was an inhibitory effect of the high melatonin dose on maturation pace under LD 24:0. Nevertheless, this effect was small compared to the inhibitory effect of LD 8:16 treatment, suggesting that at least in this season, the major part of the photoperiodic effects in the stickleback is mediated via mechanisms other than circulating melatonin.