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Sex differences in the trade‐off between feeding and mating in the guppy
Author(s) -
Griffiths S. W.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1996.tb01484.x
Subject(s) - biology , guppy , mating , foraging , poecilia , harassment , zoology , sexual conflict , sexual selection , demography , ecology , fish <actinopterygii> , social psychology , fishery , psychology , sociology
Male guppies Poecilia reticulata court almost continuously and often indulge in sneaky mating attempts. Female guppies, on the other hand, devote much of their time to foraging. This paper demonstrates that both sexes reduce their feeding rate in mixed‐sex groups relative to single sex ones and suggests that the decrease is less pronounced for females than for males. Thus males make feeding and mating decisions that are dependent on hunger while female foraging behaviour is constrained by sexual harassment. The observed sex differences in behaviour are a consequence of asymmetrical mating costs in males and females.