Abstract
Cave mollies (Poecilia mexicana) inhabit a dark Mexican cave, where visual communication is impossible. I observed the preference of cave molly females to associate with a non-infected male or a male infected with a pathogenic bacterium (Mycobacterium sp.) which causes the formation of large blisters around the eyes of infected fish. Females preferred to stay near the non-infected male only when the two stimulus males were separated from the female by transparent Plexiglas in light, but not when the males were separated by a wire-mesh in light (where vision was to some extent hindered, but the females perceived non-visual cues) or in darkness (where only non-visual cues were available). I conclude that the visually mediated preference for non-infected males has been maintained during the colonisation of the lightless habitat, but a preference for this trait on the basis of non-visual cues did not evolve. The cave habitat may be poor in pathogens, resulting in low selection pressure to evolve a non-visual preference for males without bacterial infection.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank I. Schlupp and A. Warbeck for commenting on a previous draft of this paper. A. Taebel-Hellwig, T.H. Dirks, I.D. Schmidt and the aquarium team in Hamburg provided technical support and animal care. I thank the Mexican Government for issuing permits (242.-2190, 276/36, 210696-213-03). Financial support came from the University of Hamburg. The experiments reported in this paper comply with the current laws in Germany.
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Communicated by R.F. Oliveira
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Plath, M. Cave molly females (Poecilia mexicana) avoid parasitised males. acta ethol 6, 47–51 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-004-0085-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10211-004-0085-1