The effects of familiarity and group size on mating preferences in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata

Journal of Evolutionary Biology
M M MarietteRobert Brooks

Abstract

In recent years, it has become evident that frequency dependence in the attractiveness of a particular phenotype to mates can contribute to the maintenance of polymorphism. However, these preferences for rare and unfamiliar male phenotypes have only been demonstrated in small, controlled experiments. Here, we tested the preference for unfamiliar mates in groups of six to 96 individuals over 13 days, in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). We observed individual behaviour in situ to test whether fish discriminate two unfamiliar individuals among many familiar ones. We found that unfamiliar males and females were preferred over the familiar fishes in all groups and that this effect decayed over time. Increasing group sizes and levels of sexual activity did not hamper the preference for unfamiliar mates, providing further support for the role of frequency dependent mate choice in the maintenance of trait polymorphism in natural populations.

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Citations

Aug 2, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Mylene M MarietteClémentine Vignal
Nov 1, 2013·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·J C SenarL Arroyo
Jul 24, 2012·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·K D Fowler-Finn, R L Rodríguez
Sep 10, 2010·Journal of Evolutionary Biology·L A Jordan, R C Brooks
May 27, 2017·Development, Growth & Differentiation·Teruhiro OkuyamaHideaki Takeuchi
Nov 1, 2013·Nature·Jeffrey S McKinnon, Maria R Servedio
Mar 24, 2020·Nature Ecology & Evolution·Mitchel J Daniel, Robert J Williamson
Jul 21, 2017·Scientific Reports·Bekir KabasakalMatteo Griggio

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