A role for male bower size as an intrasexual signal in a Lake Malawi cichlid fish
نویسندگان
چکیده
Disruptive sexual selection through female mate choice has been proposed as a key mechanism driving the evolution of haplochromine cichlid fish diversity. Here we investigated if male secondary sexual traits employed by females in direct mate choice have an additional function in male competition. We conducted a field experiment on aggression among males of a lekking Lake Malawi cichlid species that build volcano-shaped spawning craters, known as bowers, in their breeding territories. Males placed on a short artificial bower received significantly more aggression from adjacent resident males than when placed on a tall artificial bower. This supports the hypothesis that bower size provides information about male competitive ability, and suggests an additional function for this extended phenotypic trait besides a role in attracting females.
منابع مشابه
Altering an extended phenotype reduces intraspecific male aggression and can maintain diversity in cichlid fish
Reduced male aggression towards different phenotypes generating negative frequency-dependent intrasexual selection has been suggested as a mechanism to facilitate the invasion and maintenance of novel phenotypes in a population. To date, the best empirical evidence for the phenomenon has been provided by laboratory studies on cichlid fish with different colour polymorphisms. Here we experimenta...
متن کاملEvolution of a cichlid fish in a Lake Malawi satellite lake.
Allopatric divergence in peripheral habitats may lead to rapid evolution of populations with novel phenotypes. In this study we provide the first evidence that isolation in peripheral habitats may have played a critical role in generation of Lake Malawi's cichlid fish diversity. We show that Lake Chilingali, a satellite lake 11.5 km from the shore of Lake Malawi, contains a breeding population ...
متن کاملAxes of differentiation in the bower-building cichlids of Lake Malawi.
The 500-1000 cichlid species endemic to Lake Malawi constitute one of the most rapid and extensive radiations of vertebrates known. There is a growing debate over the role natural and sexual selection have played in creating this remarkable assemblage of species. Phylogenetic analysis of the Lake Malawi species flock has been confounded by the lack of appropriate morphological characters and an...
متن کاملQuantifying mating success of territorial males and sneakers in a bower-building cichlid fish
The strategies and traits males evolve to mate with females are incredible in their diversity. Theory on the evolution of secondary sexual characters suggests that evolving any costly trait or strategy will pay off and stabilise in the population if it is advantageous compared to the alternative less costly strategy, but quantifying the relative success of the two can be difficult. In Lake Mala...
متن کاملSegregation of Species-Specific Male Attractiveness in F2 Hybrid Lake Malawi Cichlid Fish
Among the huge radiations of haplochromine cichlid fish in Lakes Malawi and Victoria, closely related species are often reproductively isolated via female mate choice although viable fertile hybrids can be produced when females are confined only with heterospecific males. We generated F(2) hybrid males from a cross between a pair of closely related sympatric cichlid fish from Lake Malawi. Labor...
متن کامل