Shared Preferences by Predators and Females for Male Ornaments in Swordtails

Rosenthal, Gil G.; Martinez, None Tania Y. Flores; León, Francisco J. Garcı́a de; Ryan, Michael J.

doi:10.1086/321309

Cited by 120 publications

(59 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Winemiller et al (1990) have demonstrated that, in poeciliids, more conspicuous males are more likely to be attacked by predators than less conspicuous males. Rosenthal et al (2001) found that the predatory tetra, Astyanax mexicanus, orientates more towards high-backed pygmy swordtail, X. multilineatus, males with long swords than males with shortened swords. Thus, a longer sword could not only be more attractive to females, but could also attract predators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The turn of the sword: length increases male swimming costs in swordtails

Basolo

Alcaraz

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

138

161

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Sexual selection via female mate choice can result in the evolution of elaborate male traits that incur substantial costs for males. Despite increased interest in how female mating preferences contribute to the evolution of male traits, few studies have directly quantified the locomotor costs of such traits. A sexually selected trait that could affect movement costs is the sword exhibited by male swordtail fishes: while longer swords may increase male mating success, they could negatively affect the hydrodynamic aspects of swimming activities. Here, we examine the energetic costs of the sword in Xiphophorus montezumae by experimentally manipulating sword length and measuring male aerobic metabolism during two types of activity, routine swimming and courtship swimming. Direct measurements of oxygen consumption indicate that males with longer swords expend more energy than males with shortened swords during both types of swimming. In addition, the sword increases the cost of male courtship. Thus, while sexual selection via female choice favours long swords, males with longer swords experience higher metabolic costs during swimming, suggesting that sexual and natural selection have opposing effects on sword evolution. This study demonstrates a hydrodynamic cost of a sexually selected trait. In addition, this study discriminates between the cost of a sexually selected trait used in courtship and other courtship costs.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

The turn of the sword: length increases male swimming costs in swordtails

Basolo

Alcaraz

2003

Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B

138

161

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“…A recent study by Rosenthal et al (2001) has suggested that some male visual traits, which evolve in response to preexisting female sensory biases, may also exploit sensory biases shared with predators. If the apparent preference of female S. rovneri for male tufts demonstrated by McClintock and Uetz (1996) represents a preexisting female bias (as originally suggested), results of this study could be used to test this hypothesis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While numerous studies indicate that male signals acting to increase conspicuousness to females also attract the attention of predators (Moodie, 1972;Endler, 1978Endler, , 1980Reznick and Endler, 1982;Sakaluk and Belwood, 1984;Petrie, 1992;Koga et al, 2001), there are fewer empirical or mechanistic studies (Endler, 1987(Endler, , 1991Gotmark, 1997;Kotiaho et al, 1998;Rosenthal et al, 2001) on aspects of predator detection.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Potential Predation Costs of Male Decoration and Courtship Display in Wolf Spiders Using Video Digitization and Playback

Pruden

Uetz

2004

Journal of Insect Behavior

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“…Johnstone 1995); however, the preference of heterospecific eavesdroppers for one signal variant over another has received much less attention (but see Moodie 1972;Hass 1976;Endler 1980;Slagsvold et al 1995;Wagner 1995;Lehmann et al 2001;Rosenthal 2001;Bernal et al 2006). Why would a predator prefer one signal variant over another within a prey species?…”

Section: Edu)mentioning

confidence: 99%