Article
Do Female Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, Prefer Ornaments That Males Lack?
Ethology
(2016)
Abstract
Some species in the family Poeciliidae are known for extravagant male ornaments and courtship behavior (e.g., guppies), but the majority of poe- ciliids are characterized by coercive male copulation attempts that seem to circumvent female choice. In some lineages with male ornaments, female sensory bias may have preceded the evolution of corresponding male sig- nals. We examined female preferences for colorful ornaments in Western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, in which males lack ornamentation and reproduce primarily through coercive mating attempts. We found that females exhibited a positional affinity for males that were artificially orna- mented with blue coloration over males that had been treated with a transparent ornament. Females exhibited the opposite effect for males treated with red ornaments. In contrast, focal females did not exhibit behavioral discrimination between two live stimulus females or two mod- els (silver fishing lures) with blue vs. transparent ornaments. This suggests a sexual context for female discrimination between males based on orna- ment color and whether an ornament was present. Because tribe Gambusiini is the basal branch of family Poeciliidae, the results of this study are consistent with the hypothesis that female responsiveness to male coloration is the ancestral poeciliid character state.
Keywords
- Gambusia affinis,
- mate choice,
- sensory exploitation,
- Western Mosquitofish
Disciplines
Publication Date
July, 2016
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/eth.12507
Citation Information
Scott Kight. "Do Female Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, Prefer Ornaments That Males Lack?" Ethology Vol. 122 Iss. 7 (2016) p. 561 - 570 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/scott-kight/5/