Rapid assessment of female preference for male size predicts subsequent choice of spawning partner in a socially monogamous cichlid fish

Dechaume-Moncharmont, François-Xavier; Cornuau, Jérémie H.; Keddar, Ismaël; Ihle, Malika; Motreuil, Sébastien; Cézilly, Frank

doi:10.1016/j.crvi.2011.08.004

Cited by 25 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 45 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…1c) to test for the female's mating preference (e.g. Thünken et al 2007;Dechaume-Moncharmont et al 2011). After a 10-min acclimatisation period, the female was allowed to choose between the two stimulus males during a 22-min mate choice phase that was divided into two recording periods of 11 min each.…”

Section: Mate Choice Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do female rainbow kribs choose males on the basis of their apparent aggression and boldness? A non-correlational mate choice study

Scherer

Godin

Schuett

2020

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Consistent between-individual differences in behaviour, known as personality differences, are heritable and have consequences for individual survival and reproductive success. Therefore, it is likely that personality differences are not just under natural but also under sexual selection. Indeed, the recently developed idea that individuals choose their mate based on its personality finds empirical support. However, most studies on mate choice based on personality traits are correlative pioneering work and there is a paucity of experimental studies that test for causality by disentangling personality measures from other, potentially correlated traits that may be important during mate choice. Here, we tested female preference for the apparent level and consistency of either male aggression (measured as mean distance of approach towards an animated opponent, manipulated by locating males at a fixed distance) or male boldness (measured as activity under a simulated predation threat, manipulated using a gradient in ambient water temperature) in a bi-parental West African cichlid, Pelvicachromis pulcher. Females could observe the apparent behaviour of paired stimulus males and were allowed to choose between the two stimulus males in a subsequent choice test. We found no direct effect of male apparent aggression/boldness on female choice, but an indirect effect such that female preference for the apparently bold male increased with increasing within-male pair contrast in their apparent level of boldness. Our results indicate females consider male boldness per se during mate choice, suggesting male boldness is sexually selected in our study species. Significance statement Ever since Darwin introduced the concept of sexual selection, female choice has been studied extensively. However, the hypothesis that consistent between-individual differences in behaviour (known as personality differences) affect mate choice is relatively new. Correlative studies support this idea but provide only suggestive evidence. Here, we used behavioural manipulations in order to disentangle male behaviour from other, potentially correlated male traits, allowing us to test for causality between female choice and personality differences in male aggression and boldness (both in level and consistency of behaviour) in a bi-parental cichlid. We found no overall female preference for male apparent behaviour, but female preference for the boldappearing male increased with increasing between-male contrast in apparent boldness. Our results indicate a causal link between female choice and male boldness. In future, behavioural manipulations using a temperature gradient could provide further valuable insights.

show abstract

Section: Mate Choice Trialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do female rainbow kribs choose males on the basis of their apparent aggression and boldness? A non-correlational mate choice study

Scherer

Godin

Schuett

2020

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It has been used for studies on small teleosts for evaluating the effects of sedative shipping additives under industrial conditions (Kilgore et al, 2009). Amatitlania nigrofasciata has also been frequently used in fish behaviour studies (Arnott et al, 2011;Dechaume-Moncharmont et al, 2011;Moscicki et al, 2011;Chee et al, 2012;van Breukelen, 2013). In one behaviour study, social stress was reported to be associated with gallbladder hypertrophy and increased bile retention (Earley et al, 2004).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Gross morphology and histology of the alimentary tract of the convict cichlid Amatitlania nigrofasciata

Hopperdietzel

Hirschberg

Hünigen

et al. 2014

Journal of Fish Biology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The primary objectives of this study were to document the macroscopic and histological structure of the alimentary tract (AT) of the convict cichlid Amatitlania nigrofasciata, because there are no data available for this omnivorous freshwater fish of the family Cichlidae. The morphology of the AT of A. nigrofasciata resembles that of related species. While having morphological criteria of the AT typical of most omnivorous fishes, such as a blind sac stomach and medium length intestine, A. nigrofasciata also has some structural peculiarities: the oesophagus is lined by a uniform stratified squamous epithelial layer with interspersed goblet cells along its entire length. Additionally, it has well-developed layers of the tunica muscularis including muscle fibre bundles that ascend into its mucosal folds. Occasionally, taste buds are present. In the transitional area between oesophagus and stomach, a prominent torus-like closure device is present. The mucosa of the stomach cannot be divided into different regions according to mucosal and morphological properties. The simple pattern of intestinal loops of A. nigrofasciata has few variations, irrespective of sex, mass and length of the individual fish. The first segment of the intestine is characterized by the largest mucososerosal ratio and the most complex mucosal surface architecture. A distinction of midgut and hindgut was not possible in A. nigrofasciata due to lack of defining structural components as described for other fish species.

show abstract

“…Previous experiments revealed that males and females of P. taeniatus use body size (an ornamental trait) as well as genetic relatedness (a compatibility criterion) in mate choice, when these criteria were tested independently from each other: as in other cichlids [33][34][35][36][37], both sexes preferred large individuals [32]. Mating with large individuals provides several indirect and direct benefits in biparental cichlids, e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A sex-specific trade-off between mating preferences for genetic compatibility and body size in a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice

et al. 2012

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mating preferences for genetic compatibility strictly depend on the interplay of the genotypes of potential partners and are therein fundamentally different from directional preferences for ornamental secondary sexual traits. Thus, the most compatible partner is on average not the one with most pronounced ornaments and vice versa. Hence, mating preferences may often conflict. Here, we present a solution to this problem while investigating the interplay of mating preferences for relatedness (a compatibility criterion) and large body size (an ornamental or quality trait). In previous experiments, both sexes of Pelvicachromis taeniatus, a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice, showed preferences for kin and large partners when these criteria were tested separately. In the present study, test fish were given a conflicting choice between two potential mating partners differing in relatedness as well as in body size in such a way that preferences for both criteria could not simultaneously be satisfied. We show that a sex-specific trade-off occurs between mating preferences for body size and relatedness. For females, relatedness gained greater importance than body size, whereas the opposite was true for males. We discuss the potential role of the interplay between mating preferences for relatedness and body size for the evolution of inbreeding preference.

show abstract

Rapid assessment of female preference for male size predicts subsequent choice of spawning partner in a socially monogamous cichlid fish

Cited by 25 publications

References 45 publications

Do female rainbow kribs choose males on the basis of their apparent aggression and boldness? A non-correlational mate choice study

Do female rainbow kribs choose males on the basis of their apparent aggression and boldness? A non-correlational mate choice study

Gross morphology and histology of the alimentary tract of the convict cichlid Amatitlania nigrofasciata

A sex-specific trade-off between mating preferences for genetic compatibility and body size in a cichlid fish with mutual mate choice

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About