Do Males Form Social Associations Based on Sexual Attractiveness in a Fission-Fusion Fish Society?

ABSTRACT: Recent theory predicts that males should choose social environments that maximize their relative attractiveness to females by preferentially associating with less attractive rivals, so as to enhance their mating success. Using the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a highly social species, we tested for non-random social associations among males in mixed-sex groups based on two phenotypic traits (body length and coloration) that predict relative sexual attractiveness to females and sexual (sperm) competitiveness. Based on a well-replicated laboratory dichotomous-choice test of social group preference, we could not reject the null hypothesis that focal males chose randomly between a mixed-sex group that comprised a female and a rival male that was less sexually attractive than themsel

SUBMITTER: Auge AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4795762 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature