Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Relationship Among Swimming Performance, Courtship Behavior, and Carotenoid Pigmentation of Guppies in Four Rivers of Trinidad

  • Published:
Environmental Biology of Fishes Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In the laboratory, courtship behavior and carotenoid pigmentation of male guppies are condition-dependent traits, since their expression is affected by physical vigor and environmental factors such as water velocity and diet. Whether these relationships exist in guppies under field conditions is yet to be determined. We compared the swimming performance, courtship behavior, and carotenoid pigmentation of guppies from headwater and downstream localities in four rivers of Trinidad. Swimming performance and courtship behavior of males differed among rivers and between headwater and downstream sites. Guppies from headwater sites swam significantly faster and had higher display rates than those from downstream sites. Mean swimming performance across sites was positively correlated with mean water velocity, but was correlated with the number of orange color spots (carotenoid pigment) in only one river. These results indicate that the courtship behavior of Trinidadian guppies is condition-dependent because the amount of display behavior is positively correlated to swimming performance, a measure of physical endurance. The proximal cause for this condition-dependence may be predator induced variation in microhabitat use by guppies in headwater and downstream locations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References cited

  • Andersson, M.B. 1994. Sexual selection. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 599 pp.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baerends, G.P., R. Brouwer & H.T. Waterbolk. 1955. Ethological studies on Lebistes reticulatus (Peters). Behaviour 8: 249-335.

    Google Scholar 

  • Beamish, F.W.H. 1978. Swimming capacity. pp. 101-187. In: W.S. Hoar & D.J. Randall (ed.) Fish Physiology, Vol. 7, Academic Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brett, J.R. 1964. The respiratory metabolism and swimming performance of young sockeye salmon. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 21: 1183-1226.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brett, J.R. & N.R. Glass. 1973. Metabolic rates and critical swimming speeds of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in relation to size and temperature. J. Fish. Res. Board Can. 30: 379-387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Björnsson, B. 1993. Swimming speed and swimming metabolism of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in relation to available food: a laboratory study. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 50: 2542-2551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buchholz, R. 1995. Female choice and male ornamentation in wild turkeys. Anim. Behav. 50: 929-943.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrows, R.E. 1969. The influence of fingerling quality on adult salmon survivals. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 98: 777-784.

    Google Scholar 

  • Byers, J.A., J.D. Moodie & N. Hall. 1994. Pronghorn females choose vigorous mates. Anim. Behav. 47: 33-43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, E. & R.L. Aronson. 1951. Sexual behavior in the guppy, Lebistes reticulatus (Peters). Zoologica 36: 49-66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conover, W.J. & R.L. Iman. 1981. Rank transformations as a bridge between parametric and nonparametric statistics. Am. Stat. 35: 124-129.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cresswell, R.C. & R. Williams. 1983. Post-stocking movements and recapture of hatchery-reared trout released into flowing waters — effect of prior acclimation to flow. J. Fish Biol. 23: 265-276.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dussault, G.V. & D.L. Kramer. 1981. Food and feeding behaviour of the guppy Poecilia reticulata (Pisces: Poeciliidae). Can. J. Zool. 59: 684-701.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. 1978. A predator's view of animal color patterns. Evol. Biol. 11: 319-364.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. 1983. Natural and sexual selection on color patterns in poeciliid fishes. Env. Biol. Fish. 9: 173-190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. 1987. Predation, light intensity, and courtship behavior in Poecilia reticulata (Pisces: Poeciliidae). Anim. Behav. 35: 1376-1385.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. 1991. Variation in the appearance of guppy color patterns to guppies and their predators under different visual conditions. Vision Res. 31: 587-608.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. 1992. Signals, signal conditions, and the direction of evolution. Amer. Nat. 139: 125-153.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. 1995. Multiple trait coevolution and environmental gradients in guppies. TREE 10: 22-29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Endler, J.A. & A.E. Houde. 1995. Geographic variation in female preferences for male traits in Poecilia reticulata. Evolution 49: 456-468.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farr, J.A. 1980. Social behavior patterns as determinants of reproductive success in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata Peters (Pisces: Poeciliidae) — an experimental study of the effects of intermale competition, female choice, and sexual selection. Behavior 74: 38-91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haskins, C.P. & E.F. Haskins, J.J.A. McLaughlin & R.E. Hewitt. 1961. Polymorphism and population structure in Lebistes reticulatus, a population study. pp. 320-395. In: W.F. Blair (ed.) Vertebrate Speciation, University of Texas Press, Austin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hill, G.E. 1990. Female house finches prefer colourful males: sexual selection for a condition dependent trait. Anim. Behav. 40: 563-572.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown, A. 1989. Dietary carotenoids and male mating success in the guppy: an environmental component to female choice. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 25: 393-401.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown, A. 1993. Female choice of multiple male criteria in guppies: interacting effects of dominance, coloration and courtship. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 32: 415-420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kodric-Brown, A. & J.H. Brown. 1984. Truth in advertising: the kinds of traits favored by sexual selection. Amer. Nat. 124: 309-323.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liley, N.R. 1966. Ethological isolating mechanisms in four sympatric species of poeciliid fishes. Behaviour (Suppl.) 13: 1-197.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luyten, P.H. & N.R. Liley. 1985. Geographic variation in the sexual behavior of the guppy, Poecilia reticulata (Peters). Behavior 95: 164-179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Luyten, P.H. & N.R. Liley. 1991. Sexual selection and competitive mating success of male guppies (Poecilia reticulata) from four Trinidad populations. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 28: 329-336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magurran, A.E. & B.H. Seghers. 1994. Sexual conflict as a consequence of ecology: evidence from guppy, Poecilia reticulata, populations in Trinidad. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 255: 31-36.

    Google Scholar 

  • Magurran, A.E., B.H. Seghers, G.R. Carvalho & P.W. Shaw. 1993. Evolution of adaptive variation in antipredator behavior. Mar. Behav. Physiol. 23: 29-44.

    Google Scholar 

  • Møller, A.P. 1990. Parasites and sexual selection: current status of the Hamilton and Zuk hypothesis. J. Evol. Biol. 3: 319-328.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicoletto, P.F. 1991. The relationship between male ornamentation and swimming performance in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol. 28: 365-370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicoletto, P.F. 1993. Female sexual response to condition-dependent ornaments in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Anim. Behav. 46: 441-450.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicoletto, P.F. 1996. The influence of water velocity on the display behavior of male guppies, Poecilia reticulata. Behav. Ecol. 7: 272-278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pomiankowski, A.N. 1987. The costs of choice in sexual selection. J. Theor. Biol. 128: 195-218.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reznick, D.N. & J.A. Endler. 1982. The impact of predation on life history evolution in Trinidadian guppies. Evolution 36: 160-177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reznick, D.N., M.J. Butler, F.H. Rodd & P. Ross. 1996. Life-history evolution in guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Differential mortality as a mechanism for natural selection. Evolution 50: 1651-1660.

    Google Scholar 

  • Robins, C. & R.W. Crawford. 1954. A short accurate method for estimating the volume of stream flow. J. Wildl. Manag. 18: 363-369.

    Google Scholar 

  • Searcy, W.A. 1982. The evolutionary effects of mate selection. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 13: 57-58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Seghers, B.H. 1974. Geographic variation in the response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) to aerial predators. Oecologia 14: 93-98.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smit, H. 1965. Some experiments on the oxygen consumption of goldfish (Carassius auratus L.) in relation to swimming speed. Can. J. Zool. 43: 623-633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, E.B. & J.D. McPhail. 1986. Prolonged and burst swimming in anadromous and freshwater threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Can. J. Zool. 64: 416-420.

    Google Scholar 

  • Trivers, R.L. 1972. Parental investment and sexual selection. pp. 136-179. In: B. Campbell (ed.) Sexual Selection and the Descent of Man, Aldine Pub. Co., Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Webb, P.W. 1975. Hydrodynamics and energetics of fish propulsion. Bull. Fish. Res. Board. Can. 190: 1-59.

    Google Scholar 

  • West-Eberhard, M.J. 1983. Sexual selection, social competition, and speciation. Quart. Rev. Biol. 58: 155-183.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winemiller, K.O., M. Leslie & R. Roche. 1990. Phenotypic variation in male guppies from natural inland populations: an additional test of Haskins' sexual selection/predation hypothesis. Env. Biol. Fish. 29: 179-191.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahavi, A. 1975. Mate selection — a selection for a handicap. J. Theor. Biol. 53: 205-214.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuk, M. 1991. Sexual ornaments as animal signals. TREE 6: 228-231.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Lamar University, P.O. Box 10037, Beaumont, TX, 77710, U.S.A. (e-mail

    Paul F. Nicoletto

  2. Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, 87131, U.S.A

    Astrid Kodric-Brown

Authors
  1. Paul F. Nicoletto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Astrid Kodric-Brown
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Nicoletto, P.F., Kodric-Brown, A. The Relationship Among Swimming Performance, Courtship Behavior, and Carotenoid Pigmentation of Guppies in Four Rivers of Trinidad. Environmental Biology of Fishes 55, 227–235 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007587809618

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007587809618

Search

Navigation