Mismatched partners that achieve postpairing behavioral similarity improve their reproductive success.

ABSTRACT: Behavioral similarity between partners is likely to promote within-pair compatibility and to result in better reproductive success. Therefore, individuals are expected to choose a partner that is alike in behavioral type. However, mate searching is very costly and does not guarantee finding a matching partner. If mismatched individuals pair, they may benefit from increasing their similarity after pairing. We show in a monogamous fish species-the convict cichlid-that the behavioral similarity between mismatched partners can increase after pairing. This increase resulted from asymmetrical adjustment because only the reactive individual became more alike its proactive partner, whereas the latter did not change its behavior. The mismatched pairs that increased their similarity not only improve

SUBMITTER: Laubu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4783125 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature