Mate preference in the painted goby: the influence of visual and acoustic courtship signals
| Autor: | Manuel Caiano, Ricardo Lopes Pereira, Silvia S. Pedroso, Paulo J. Fonseca, M. Clara P. Amorim, Ana Nunes da Ponte |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Visual perception Physiology media_common.quotation_subject Zoology Aquatic Science Biology Choice Behavior Courtship Stimulus modality Animals Body Size Molecular Biology Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics media_common Communication Courtship display business.industry Fishes Mating Preference Animal Mating preferences Preference Phenotype Sound Mate choice Insect Science behavior and behavior mechanisms Auditory Perception Body Composition Visual Perception Animal Science and Zoology Female business Paternal care psychological phenomena and processes |
| Zdroj: | The Journal of experimental biology. 216(Pt 21) |
| ISSN: | 1477-9145 |
| Popis: | Summary We tested the hypothesis that females of a small vocal marine fish with exclusive paternal care, the painted goby, prefer high parental-quality mates such as large or high condition males. We tested the effect of male body size and male visual and acoustic courtship behaviour (playback experiments) on female mating preferences, by measuring time spent near one of a two-choice stimuli. Females did not show preference for male size but preferred males that showed higher levels of courtship, a trait know to advertise condition (fat reserves). Also, time spent near the preferred male depended on male courtship effort. Playback experiments showed that when sound was combined with visual stimuli (a male confined in a small aquarium placed near each speaker), females spent more time near the male associated with courtship sound than with the control male (associated with white noise or silence). Although male visual courtship effort also affected female preference in the pre-playback period, this effect decreased during playback and disappeared in the post-playback period. Courtship sound stimuli alone did not elicit female preference in relation to a control. Taken together, the results suggest that visual and mainly acoustic courtship displays are subject to mate preference and may advertise parental quality in this species. Our results indicate that visual and acoustic signals interplay in a complex fashion and highlight the need to examine how different sensory modalities affect mating preferences in fish and other vertebrates. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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