Abstract
In many species of East African cichlids, males build sand craters or “bowers” to attract females for spawning. It is commonly assumed that these exaggerated sexual traits have a function similar to bodily ornaments. In non-bodily ornaments, however, the behaviour creating the structure may serve as an additional source of information to potential partners, providing multiple signals for mate choice. We tested whether and to what extent females use these signals for choosing males by observing the individual sampling behaviour of female Cyathopharynx furcifer in the field. In addition, we experimentally manipulated crater characteristics in the field and laboratory. We found that females spawn preferably with owners of large and well-maintained craters, but when crater size was enlarged or reduced, the resulting building activity of crater owners affected female choice more strongly than the manipulated crater size per se. We discuss the importance of multiple signals in species constructing extended phenotypes.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Valerio Rizzo, Dr. Katharina Peer and Dr. Oliver Otti for field assistance and helpful comments. We thank Dr. H. Phiri, R. Shapola, L. Makasa, D. Sinyinza and C. Lukwesa from the Fisheries Department, Mpulungu, Zambia, for their continuous support of our project. The experiment described in this manuscript complies with the current laws of Zambia, the country in which the study was conducted. We thank the Ministry of Agriculture and Co-operatives of Zambia, in particular Director C. Kapasa, for permission and support. We thank the members of the Lake Tanganyika diving expeditions 2002 and 2003 for their assistance and R. Eggler, S. Maurer and P. Stettler for help in organisation. The project was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF grants 3100-064396 and 3100A0-105626 to M.T.). The breeding program and the experiments were approved by the Veterinary Authority of the Kanton Bern, Switzerland, and conducted under the licenses No 27/01, 30/01 and 30/02.
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Schaedelin, F.C., Taborsky, M. Female choice of a non-bodily ornament: an experimental study of cichlid sand craters in Cyathopharynx furcifer . Behav Ecol Sociobiol 64, 1437–1447 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0959-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-0959-3