Wasteful carotenoid coloration and its effects on territorial behavior in a cichlid fish.

ABSTRACT: The famously diverse body coloration of cichlid fish serves communicative functions in mating and social interactions including competition for resources. Here, we examined the effects of a color pattern trait-the width of a yellow bar on a black body-on territorial competition in males and females of a color variant ("Ikola") of the Lake Tanganyika cichlid Tropheus. First, measuring integumentary carotenoid concentrations in the yellow and black body regions, we established that wider yellow bars require more carotenoids allocated to body coloration. However, we also detected high carotenoid concentrations in the black body regions (> 100 µg/g fresh skin), raising questions about the function of non-displayed integumentary carotenoids. Behavioral experiments showed that fish with w

SUBMITTER: Ziegelbecker A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8549929 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature