Abstract
Turbidity (a measure of the cloudiness of water) decreases the visual range of organisms, altering interactions within and between species. For species that visually assess mates, turbidity may affect mating interactions and mate choice. A central question, then, is to what degree organisms plastically adjust mating behaviors to cope with visually altered environments. Here, we investigate the effect of turbidity on the mating behavior of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in Trinidad, where some streams are increasingly turbid due to upstream rock quarrying. We collected fish from two highly turbid streams (with upstream rock quarries) and two pristine streams (no upstream quarries) in the same drainages. We then observed male mating behaviors with females from the same populations in both turbid and clear assays, recording displays and sneak copulation attempts. Males from turbid streams showed greater individual consistency in mating behaviors. But regardless of provenance, male guppies spent less time associating with females in turbid water overall. When males and females did interact, however, males greatly increased the rate of all mating behaviors in turbid as compared to clear water. Thus, even when lacking a long-term evolutionary history with high turbidity, guppies compensate for lost time when mating in a visually altered environment.
Significance statement
Given the global nature of increases in turbidity, understanding behavioral responses to this aquatic anthropogenic change is critical. Here, we investigate the degree to which Trinidadian guppy males in affected areas are able to plastically compensate in turbid water by adjusting mating behaviors. We also test the degree to which previous chronic exposure to turbidity alters this plasticity. In contrast to predictions, we did not find population differences in plasticity; across all populations, however, we found significant plasticity in the guppy mating system in response to anthropogenically increased turbidity. While males spent less time associating with females in turbid water overall, males increased mating effort during periods of association, compensating for lost time in turbid water. We discuss this plasticity and the implications for guppy sexual selection and secondary sexual characteristics such as coloration.
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Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Sih lab for offering insights during the analysis phase. The manuscript was improved by helpful edits from A. Pilastro, K. Heubel, and an anonymous reviewer. We also gratefully acknowledge the Asa Wright Nature Centre, with special thanks to Ronnie Hernandez, for facilitating our work at the William Beebe Tropical Research Station. SME was supported by the UC Davis Center for Population Biology and by an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship.
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Fish were collected under the approval of the Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Food Production, Aquaculture Division. All procedures herein performed were approved in accordance with national and international ethics standards by the University of California Davis’ Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
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The dataset collected and analyzed during the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Ehlman, S.M., Martinez, D. & Sih, A. Male guppies compensate for lost time when mating in turbid water. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 72, 46 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-018-2468-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-018-2468-8