Summary
I experimentally examined the relative importance of social dominance, color patterns, and courtship behavior in male mating and reproductive success in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Female choice of males is based on a complex set of behavioral and morphological traits. The results of 59 paired-male one-female visual choice and mating trials showed that male mating success was positively correlated with dominance, courtship intensity, and male coloration. Only dominant males engaged in full copoulations, and they sired two-thirds of the broods. An analysis of the paternity of broods and results of mating trials showed that a female's visual response when the sexes are separated by a glass partition is a good predictor of a male's reproductive success when the partition is removed and they are allowed to mate. A canonical correlation analysis of male behavioral and morphological traits indicated that female visual response and male mating success were positively correlated with male courtship and with agonistic behavior. However, the relative importance of color varied. Carotenoid and iridescent spots were important both in attracting the female's attention and in enhancing male mating success. Melanins were not correlated with either mating success or female response. There was a relatively low correlation (48%) between male behavioral and morphological variables and female response variables (full copulation and female visual response). These results suggest that female choice is subtle, and is based on a complex suite of male behavioral and morphological traits as well as on competitive interactions among males.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baerends GP, Brower R, Waterbolk HT (1955) Ethological studies on Lebistes reticulatus (Peters). Behaviour 8:249–335
Bischoff RJ, Gould JL, Rubenstein DI (1985) Tail size and female choice in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 17:253–256
Breden F, Stoner G (1987) Male predation risk determined female preference in the Trinidad guppy. Nature 329:831–833
Clark E, Aronson LR (1951) Sexual behavior in the guppy Lebistes reticulatus. Zoologica 36:49–66
Clutton-Brock TH, Guinness FE, Albon SD (1982) Red deer: behavior and ecology of two sexes. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Constantz GD (1975) Behavioral ecology of mating in the male gila topminnow, Poeciliopsis occidentalis (Cyprinodontiformes: Poeciliidae). Ecology 56:966–973
Crow RT, Liley NR (1979) A sexual pheromone in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata (Peters). Can J Zool 57:184–188
Endler JA (1980) Natural selection on color patterns in Poecilia reticulata. Evol Biol 11:319–364
Endler JA (1983) Natural and sexual selection on color patterns in poeciliid fishes. Environ Biol Fish 9:173–190
Endler JA (1987) Predation, light intensity and courtship behavior in Poecilia reticulata. Anim Behav 35:1376–1385
Farr JA (1976) Social facilitation of male sexual behavior, intrasexual competition, and sexual selection in the guppy. Evolution 30:707–717
Farr JA (1980) Social behavior patterns as determinations of reproductive success in the guppy Poecilia reticulata Peters (Pisces, Poeciliidae). An experimental sutdy of the effects of intermale competition, female choice, and sexual selection. Behaviour 74:38–91
Gandolfi G (1971) Sexual selection in relation to the social status of males in Poecilia reticulata (Teleostei:Poeciliidae). Boll Zool 38:35–48
Gorlick DL (1976) Dominance hierarchies and factors influencing dominance in the guppy Poecilia reticulata (Peters). Anim Behav 24:336–346
Harris RJ (1985) A primer of multivariate statistics. Academic Press, Orlando, Florida
Houde AE (1987) Mate choice based upon naturally occurring color pattern variation in a guppy population. Evolution 41:1–10
Houde AE (1988) Effects of female choice and male-male competition on the mating success of male guppies. Anim Behav 36:510–516
Houde AE, Endler JA (1990) Correlated evolution of female mating preferences and male color patterns in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Science 248:1405–1408
Howard RD (1983) Sexual selection and variation in reproductive success in a long-lived organism. Am Nat 122:301–325
Hughes AL (1985) Male size, mating success, and mating strategy in the mosquitofish Gambusia affinis (Poeciliidae). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 17:271–278
Kennedy CEJ, Endler JA, Poyton SL, McMinn H (1987) Parasite load predicts mate choice in guppies. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 21:291–295
Kodric-Brown A (1985) Female preference and sexual selection for male coloration in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 17:199–206
Kodric-Brown A (1989) Dietary carotenoids and male mating success in the guppy: an enviromental component to female choice. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 25:393–401
Kodric-Brown A (1990) Mechanisms of sexual selection: insights from fishes. Ann Zool Fenn 27:87–100
Kodric-Brown A (1992) Male dominance can enhance mating success in guppies. Anim Behav 44:165–167
Kodric-Brown A, Brown JH (1984) Truth in advertising: the kinds of traits favored by sexual selection. Am Nat 124:305–322
Liley RN (1966) Ethological isolating mechanisms in four sympatric species of Poeciliid fishes. Behaviour Suppl 13:1–197
Long KD, Houde AE (1989) Orange spots as a visual cue for female mate choice in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Ethology 82:316–324
Luyten PH, Liley NR (1991) Sexual selection and competitive mating success of male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) from four Trinidad populations. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:329–336
Magurran AE, Seghers BH (1990) Risk sensitive courtship in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Behaviour 112:194–201
McLennan DA, McPhail JD (1989) Experimental investigations of the evolutionary significance of sexually dimorphic nuptial colouration in Gasterosteus aculeatus (L.): the relationship between male colour and male behaviour. Can J Zool 67:1778–1782
Milinski M, Bakker TCM (1990) Female sticklebacks use male coloration in mate choice and hence avoid parasitized males. Nature 344: 330–333
Mitchell SL (1990) The mating system genetically affects offspring performance in Woodhouse's toad (Bufo woodhousei). Evolution 44:502–519
Nicoletto PF (1991) The relationship between male ornamentation and swimming performance in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 28:365–370
Reynolds JD, Gross MR (1992) Female mate preference enhances offspring growth and reproduction in a fish, Poecilia reticulata. Proc R Soc London B 250:57–62
Ryan MJ, Causey BA (1989) “Alternative” mating behavior in the swordtails Xiphophorus nigrensis and Xiphophorus pygmaeus (Pisces: Poecillidae). Behav Ecol Sciobiol 24:341–348
Snedecor GW, Cochran WG (1982) Statistical methods. Iowa State University Press, Ames
Vehrencamp SL, Bradbury JW, Gibson RM (1989) The energetic cost of display in male sage grouse. Anim Behav 38:885–896
Zuk M, Johnson K, Thornhill R, Ligon JD (1990) Mechanism of female choice in red jungle fowl. Evolution 44:477–485
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kodric-Brown, A. Female choice of multiple male criteria in guppies: interacting effects of dominance, coloration and courtship. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 32, 415–420 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00168825
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00168825