TY - JOUR
T1 - Egg-mimicry as a mating strategy in the fantail darter, Etheostoma flabellare
T2 - females prefer males with eggs
AU - Knapp, Roland A.
AU - Sargent, Robert Craig
PY - 1989/11
Y1 - 1989/11
N2 - In some species of fishes with paternal care, females prefer to spawn with males already defending eggs. Such female preference appears to have resulted in adoption of unrelated eggs as a male mating strategy in several species. Page and Swofford (1984) proposed that such female preference may have also resulted in the evolution of male egg-mimics in several species of darters (Percidae); however, their hypothesis has not been tested. We examined female preference in the fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare) and found that females preferred males with eggs over males without eggs, and males with egg-mimics over males without egg-mimics. Thus it appears that female preference for males already guarding eggs may have led to the evolution of specialized egg-mimicking morphology in males.
AB - In some species of fishes with paternal care, females prefer to spawn with males already defending eggs. Such female preference appears to have resulted in adoption of unrelated eggs as a male mating strategy in several species. Page and Swofford (1984) proposed that such female preference may have also resulted in the evolution of male egg-mimics in several species of darters (Percidae); however, their hypothesis has not been tested. We examined female preference in the fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare) and found that females preferred males with eggs over males without eggs, and males with egg-mimics over males without egg-mimics. Thus it appears that female preference for males already guarding eggs may have led to the evolution of specialized egg-mimicking morphology in males.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0000568484&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0000568484&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/BF00302989
DO - 10.1007/BF00302989
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:0000568484
SN - 0340-5443
VL - 25
SP - 321
EP - 326
JO - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
JF - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
IS - 5
ER -