The effect of territory quality on female preference in Metriaclima zebra

Abstract

The cichlid fishes of Lake Malawi are an excellent model group with which to study adaptive radiation and speciation; due to the vast number of individual species, large variation in feeding adaptations and behaviours, and relatively recent divergence are found. Males of many cichlid species will obtain and defend lek‐like territories, where they court potential mates in addition to foraging for food. Aspects of territory quality warrant investigation because of the relationship between reproductive success and territory defence success. In this study, we tested whether the presence of a small or large food resource had any effect on the preference of a gravid female for a potential mate. The results of this experiment suggest that the presence of a large food resource increases the attractiveness of a male to a potential mate. This may suggest that the presence of food alone may not be the most important factor, or there may be a threshold amount over which females are attracted. These results indicate that certain aspects of territory quality such as habitat type or proximity to a food resource may play a role in both intersexual and intrasexual selection mechanisms: perhaps even driving and possibly accelerating the speciation of certain lineages of cichlid fishes.

Influence of ambient water coloration on habitat and conspecific choice in the female Lake Malawi cichlid, Metriaclima zebra

“…This would suggest that the blue flank coloration of mbuna males may evolve to increase conspicuousness in their habitat which has a blue-shifted ambient light spectrum ( Seehausen et al 2008 ; Dalton et al 2010 ; Smith et al 2012 ). Moreover, in our experimental settings, males did not hold a resource or territory that influence female mate choice in M. zebra ( Greenberg et al 2016 ), so the dominance perceived by nuptial coloration may be insufficient to elicit a sexual or reproductive context such as the female choice between dominant and subordinate males.…”

“…Thus, the nuptial coloration of territorial males reflecting blue and UV wavelength may not only increase the conspicuousness of the males but may also provide females with information for choosing a better mate. Previous studies showed that females have a preference for dominant conspecific males ( Mellor et al 2012 ) and males with more food resources ( Greenberg et al 2016 ). However, it has not yet been tested if the blue flank or UV reflective bands in male nuptial coloration influence the female perception of mbuna males ( Jordan et al 2004a ; Pauers et al 2016 ).…”