The Roles of Female Mate Choice and Predation in the Mating Systems of Some Tropical Labroid Fishes

The highly differentiated patterns of courtship and spawning of 3 tropical wrasses are described. We show how (a) the ability of a ♀ to freely choose her mates, and (b) risks of predation on the spawning fishes and their zygotes, affect the structure of courtship interactions and the spawning act itself. We also discuss how both these factors affect the spatial location and diurnal timing of spawning. The significance of variability in the expression of sexual dichromatism in these and other wrasses and parrotfishes is considered from the same viewpoints.