Allopatry, competitor recognition and heterospecific aggression in crater lake cichlids.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Aggressive behaviour can have significant evolutionary consequences-not only within species, but also in the context of heterospecific interactions. Here, we carried out an experimental field study to investigate the importance of phenotypic similarity on levels of aggression between species whilst controlling for familiarity effects using manipulated allopatric stimuli. Specifically, we investigated aggressive responses of territory holding males and females in two species of Neotropical cichlid fish, Amphilophus sagittae and Hypsophrys nicaraguensis, that differ in their phenotypic similarity to our allopatric stimulus species, Amphilophus astorquii.

Results

We found that, independent of phenotypic similarity (and correlated phylogenetic proximity) between the t

SUBMITTER: Lehtonen TK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4700676 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature