Monogamy in the maternally mouthbrooding Lake Tanganyika cichlid fish Tropheus moorii.

ABSTRACT: Supported by evidence for assortative mating and polygynandry, sexual selection through mate choice was suggested as the main force driving the evolution of colour diversity of haplochromine cichlids in Lakes Malawi and Victoria. The phylogenetically closely related tribe Tropheini of Lake Tanganyika includes the genus Tropheus, which comprises over 100 colour variants currently classified into six morphologically similar, polyphyletic species. To assess the potential for sexual selection in this sexually monochromatic maternal mouthbrooder, we used microsatellite-based paternity inference to investigate the mating system of Tropheus moorii. In contrast to haplochromines in Lake Malawi, multiple paternity is rare or even absent in broods of T. moorii. Eighteen of the 19 analysed families w

SUBMITTER: Egger B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1634779 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature