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Further examination of female preference for vertical bars in swordtails: preference for ‘no bars’ in a species without bars
Author(s) -
Morris M. R.
Publication year - 1998
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.1095-8649.1998.tb01017.x
Subject(s) - preference , biology , xiphophorus , bar (unit) , zoology , mate choice , fishery , fish <actinopterygii> , statistics , mathematics , physics , meteorology , mating
Xiphophorus pygmaeus males do not have a vertical bar pigment pattern and so female preference for the bars was determined by giving females a choice between pairs of X. multilineatus males without bars (all bars removed by freeze‐branding) and with bars (freeze‐branded between the bars). Female X. pygmaeus had a significant preference for male X. multilineatus without bars over males with bars, and this preference was significantly different from the preference for bars detected in X. nigrensis and X. multilineatus . The implications of the results are discussed in regard to models for the evolution of female preference.