Male Mate Choice in Mosquitofish: Personality Outweighs Body Size

Abstract

Background Despite its important implications in behavioural and evolutionary ecology, male mate choice has been little studied, and the relative contribution of personality and morphological traits remains largely unknown. Using standard two-choice mating trials, we studied whether personality traits (i.e. shyness and activity) and body size of both sexes affect mate choice in male mosquitofish Gambusia affinis. Results Both shyness and activity in males were significantly repeatable and constituted a behavioural syndrome. No overall directional preference for large (or small) females with the same activity levels was detected because larger males preferred larger females and smaller males chose smaller females. However, males spent more time associating with active females regardless of their body lengths and had an enhanced preference for inactive females when they increased activity levels. We also found that more proactive (bolder and more active) males had stronger preferences for more active females. Conclusions Our study supports the importance of body size in male mate choice but highlights that personality traits may outweigh body size preferences when males choose mating partners.