Sex Differences in How Territory Quality Affects Aggression in Convict Cichlids

Abstract

In animal contests, the value an individual assigns to limited resources can directly impact the level of aggression they demonstrate. For territorial species, individuals often assess their territory quality and appropriately modify the time and energy invested in its defense. In this study, male and female convict cichlids, Amatitlania nigrofasciata, were acclimated to one of three territorial treatments representing either a Low, Medium, or High resource value. Territories with a “Low Value” included substrate alone, “Medium Value” territories included substrate and a nest site, and a “High Value” territory included substrate, a nest site, and constant food source. After three days of acclimation, a size-matched intruder was introduced to elicit territorial aggression and behaviors were observed. Territory quality affected one measure of low-intensity aggression (displays) in residents but had no effect on high-intensity aggression (bites and chases). Moreover, there was a significant effect of sex, with males and females differing in the types of aggressive behaviors demonstrated across all treatments. Females showed more low-intensity aggressive behaviors toward intruders than males did. Additionally, a significant interaction of sex and territory quality was observed on two measures of high-intensity aggressive behavior (bites and chases), with females more likely than males to increase aggressive behaviors along with increasing territory quality. This suggests that females may be more sensitive and/or responsive to changes in the quality of a territory, possibly due to the necessity of a suitable nest site for egg deposition within a territory.

Aggressiveness overcomes body‐size effects in contests between native and invasive cichlid fishes

“…The invasive convict cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata , is a non‐native fish in the Balsas basin; it was first recorded in this basin in 1987 (Contreras‐MacBeath et al., 1998). The species exhibits aggressive behavioral traits that facilitate its colonization of novel freshwater ecosystems (Leese & Blatt, 2021; Moss et al., 2015; van Breukelen & Santangelo, 2020). This aggressiveness allows them to effectively gain and defend reproductive territories (McKaye, 1977; Wisenden, 1995) from the native Mexican mojarra Amphilophus istlanus .…”