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Cave molly females (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae, Teleostei) like well-fed males

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Abstract

We examined the preference of Atlantic molly females (Poecilia mexicana) to associate with a well-fed or a starved male in simultaneous choice tests. Females from three different populations were tested in three treatments: (1) the females could choose on the basis of multiple cues from the males (visual plus non-visual); (2) only non-visual cues could be perceived in darkness, (3) only visual cues were presented. The three tested populations differ clearly in their ecology: one population occurs in a typical river habitat, the second one in a milky sulfur creek outside a cave, and the third population occurs in a cave habitat (cave molly). In the river-dwelling population, females never showed a preference. In the population from the sulfur creek, females preferred to associate with the well-nourished male when visual cues from the males were available. Only cave molly females exhibited a strong preference for well-nourished males in all treatments. A morphological comparison demonstrated that wild-caught males from river habitats are typically in a good nutritional state. In the sulfur creek, males showed signs of starvation. Cave molly males were in an even worse nutritional state. In the cave population, saturated males probably indicate high fitness, thereby driving the evolution of the preference for good male nutritional state.

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Acknowledgements

We thank A. Weber and J. Parzefall for helpful discussions. M. Zuk kindly read a previous draft of this paper. K. Lindström and two anonymous reviewers provided very helpful comments. A. Taebel-Hellwig, T.H. Dirks, I.D. Schmidt and the Aquarium team provided animal care and technical support. M. Hänel prepared Figure 1. Financial support came from the University of Hamburg to M.P. I.S. was an Heisenberg fellow of the DFG. We thank the Mexican government for issuing permits: Permiso de pesca de fomento, numbers: 291002-613-1577 and DGOPA/5864/260704/-2408. We are indebted to the people of Tapijulapa for their hospitality during our field work. The treatments reported in this paper comply with the current laws in Germany.

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Author notes

  1. Martin Plath & Ingo Schlupp

    Present address: Department of Zoology, University of Oklahoma, 730 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019, USA

  2. Katja U. Heubel

    Present address: Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Biocenter 3 (Viikinkaari 1), University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 65, 00014 , Helsinki, Finland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biozentrum Grindel, Abteilung für Verhaltensbiologie, Universität Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146 , Hamburg, Germany

    Martin Plath, Katja U. Heubel & Ingo Schlupp

  2. Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste S.C., Mar Bermejo No. 195, Col. Playa Palo de Santa Rita, A.P. 128, 23090 , La Paz, Baja California, México

    Francisco J. García de León

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  1. Martin Plath
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Correspondence to Martin Plath.

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Communicated by K. Lindström

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Plath, M., Heubel, K.U., García de León, F.J. et al. Cave molly females (Poecilia mexicana, Poeciliidae, Teleostei) like well-fed males. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 58, 144–151 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0918-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0918-6

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