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Evolutionary theory predicts that selection will favor phenotypic plasticity in sperm traits that maximize fertilization success in dynamic fertilization environments. In species with external fertilization, osmolality of the fertilization medium is known to play a critical role in activating sperm motility, but evidence for osmotic-induced sperm plasticity is limited to euryhaline fish and marine invertebrates. Whether this capacity extends to freshwater taxa remains unknown. Here, we provide the first test for plasticity in sperm-motility activation in response to osmotic environment in an a...

Globally, anthropogenic forces are causing the osmolality (concentration of dissolved solutes) of aquatic environments to increase, with the salinisation of freshwater bodies of particular concern. With rapid increases in salinity in freshwater environments becoming an increasing threat to biota, research is needed to determine the adaptive ability of individual species. Whilst the responses of whole organisms to changing environmental osmolality have been extensively studied, the responses of sperm are mostly unknown. In externally fertilising species, the osmolality of the fertilisation medi...