Synopsis
We investigated the potential effect of social interactions between juveniles on the adult body size and male sexual behavior of the live-bearing teleostPoecilia latipinna, the sailfin molly. Contrary to expectation, juveniles exhibited very low levels of aggression. Juvenile growth rates did not differ between fish raised alone and fish raised in pairs (although males reared alone were slightly larger at one point in time), and the variance between members of a pair did not exceed the variance displayed among isolated individuals. Similar results were found for age and size at sexual maturation in males. Females reared in isolation were slightly but significantly larger at maturity than females raised in pairs. There was some evidence that females raised in pairs displayed coordinated development. Male sexual behavior patterns displayed relationships with body size that matched previous descriptions: there was no effect of the rearing condition once body size effects were accounted for. These results differ dramatically from those described for other poeciliids.
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Farr, J.A., Travis, J. The effect of ontogenetic experience on variation in growth, maturation, and sexual behavior in the sailfin molly,Poecilia latipinna (Pisces: Poeciliidae). Environ Biol Fish 26, 39–48 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002474
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00002474