biostudies-literatureUnknown6(9)Langen KIn wild animal populations, the degree of inbreeding differs between species and within species between populations. Because mating with kin often results in inbreeding depression, observed inbreeding is usually regarded to be caused by limited outbreeding opportunities due to demographic factors like small population size or population substructuring. However, theory predicts inclusive benefits from mating with kin, and thus part of the observed variation in inbreeding might be due to active inbreeding preferences. Although some recent studies indeed report kin mating preferences, the evidence is still highly ambiguous. Here, we investigate inbreeding in a natural population of the West African cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus which showed clear kin mating preferences in standardizedPloS onee24689https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC3184091biostudies-literatureMicrosatellite support for active inbreeding in a cichlid fish.PMC3184091Schwarzer JKullmann HLangen KBakker TCThunken TfalseMicrosatellite support for active inbreeding in a cichlid fish.In wild animal populations, the degree of inbreeding differs between species and within species between populations. Because mating with kin often results in inbreeding depression, observed inbreeding is usually regarded to be caused by limited outbreeding opportunities due to demographic factors like small population size or population substructuring. However, theory predicts inclusive benefits from mating with kin, and thus part of the observed variation in inbreeding might be due to active inbreeding preferences. Although some recent studies indeed report kin mating preferences, the evidence is still highly ambiguous. Here, we investigate inbreeding in a natural population of the West African cichlid fish Pelvicachromis taeniatus which showed clear kin mating preferences in standardized2011-01-01T00:00:00Z20112025-04-04T20:45:54.857Z2019-03-26T23:07:53ZS-EPMC31840912198035110.1371/journal.pone.0024689