Sounds of male Lake Victoria cichlids vary within and between species and affect female mate preferences
(2010) In Behavioral Ecology 21(3). p.548-555- Abstract
- Sound production in fish is widespread and occurs in several contexts, such as species recognition, mate choice, and aggression. However, there is little experimental evidence for the importance of acoustic signals in social contexts and the influence of sound on mating decisions of females. Cichlid fish are known for their bright nuptial coloration, which plays an important role in mate choice and reproductive isolation between the many species of cichlid fish in East Africa. They also produce sounds in both aggressive and courtship interactions. In this study, we show that the sounds produced by males of Lake Victoria cichlids are species specific. There is also a correlation between fish size and peak frequency of sounds across species.... (More)
- Sound production in fish is widespread and occurs in several contexts, such as species recognition, mate choice, and aggression. However, there is little experimental evidence for the importance of acoustic signals in social contexts and the influence of sound on mating decisions of females. Cichlid fish are known for their bright nuptial coloration, which plays an important role in mate choice and reproductive isolation between the many species of cichlid fish in East Africa. They also produce sounds in both aggressive and courtship interactions. In this study, we show that the sounds produced by males of Lake Victoria cichlids are species specific. There is also a correlation between fish size and peak frequency of sounds across species. We did not find context-dependent differences within a species (Pundamilia nyererei) between male sounds produced during aggressive displays toward males or sexual displays toward females. We also show with playback experiments that courtship sounds influence the mate preferences of female cichlids. In combination with many studies in the literature on visual signaling, our results suggest that multimodal communication plays an important role in sexual selection in cichlids. Key words: cichlid, fish, mate choice, playback, sound, species specific. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/1618901
- author
- Verzijden, Machteld LU ; van Heusden, Jasper ; Bouton, Niels ; Witte, Frans ; ten Cate, Care and Slabbekoorn, Hans
- publishing date
- 2010
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- playback, mate choice, cichlid, fish, sound, species specific
- in
- Behavioral Ecology
- volume
- 21
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 548 - 555
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000277452800017
- scopus:77951125205
- ISSN
- 1045-2249
- DOI
- 10.1093/beheco/arq018
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 2a079f86-d544-4e93-87b7-c178ca28f0a5 (old id 1618901)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 13:52:05
- date last changed
- 2022-03-21 20:59:02
@article{2a079f86-d544-4e93-87b7-c178ca28f0a5,
abstract = {{Sound production in fish is widespread and occurs in several contexts, such as species recognition, mate choice, and aggression. However, there is little experimental evidence for the importance of acoustic signals in social contexts and the influence of sound on mating decisions of females. Cichlid fish are known for their bright nuptial coloration, which plays an important role in mate choice and reproductive isolation between the many species of cichlid fish in East Africa. They also produce sounds in both aggressive and courtship interactions. In this study, we show that the sounds produced by males of Lake Victoria cichlids are species specific. There is also a correlation between fish size and peak frequency of sounds across species. We did not find context-dependent differences within a species (Pundamilia nyererei) between male sounds produced during aggressive displays toward males or sexual displays toward females. We also show with playback experiments that courtship sounds influence the mate preferences of female cichlids. In combination with many studies in the literature on visual signaling, our results suggest that multimodal communication plays an important role in sexual selection in cichlids. Key words: cichlid, fish, mate choice, playback, sound, species specific.}},
author = {{Verzijden, Machteld and van Heusden, Jasper and Bouton, Niels and Witte, Frans and ten Cate, Care and Slabbekoorn, Hans}},
issn = {{1045-2249}},
keywords = {{playback; mate choice; cichlid; fish; sound; species specific}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{548--555}},
publisher = {{Oxford University Press}},
series = {{Behavioral Ecology}},
title = {{Sounds of male Lake Victoria cichlids vary within and between species and affect female mate preferences}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/arq018}},
doi = {{10.1093/beheco/arq018}},
volume = {{21}},
year = {{2010}},
}