Who's Watching Me: Female Siamese Fighting Fish Alter Their Interactions in Response to an Audience

Abstract

It is well established that interactions between conspecifics are often influenced by the presence of passive bystanders. Individuals have been found to alter their behavior in a variety of contexts, from foraging to aggression, based on the presence, sex, or identity of an audience. This audience effect may influence not only the nature of a signaling event but also the evolution of signal structure as signals may have to convey information across a distance. Additionally, audience individuals may use information obtained by watching in later encounters with these individuals, which may act as a selection pressure on communication. Communication networks in Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens, are particularly well studied, with audience effects influencing both male–male interactions and male–female interactions. However, the effects of an audience on female–female interactions have not been examined in this species or any other. This study examined the interactions of pairs of females in three different audience conditions (male, female, and no audience). The results suggest that female–female interactions are affected by the presence of an audience as interactant‐directed gill flaring, the most commonly performed behavior, was performed more with an audience present. Additionally, the sex of the audience seemed to be influential, reflected by a difference in the frequency of interactant‐directed behaviors when a female vs. a male audience was present. This study is one of the first to demonstrate that females modify their behavior as a result of being watched and stresses the importance of examining audience effects in a variety of social contexts.

Lateralization of Aggression during Reproduction in Male Siamese Fighting Fish

“…Specifically, the measured behaviors consisted in the duration of gill flaring (measured as the total time of gill cover erection) and the duration of fin spreading (the quick expansion of the fins), both of which have been described as aggressive and territorial behaviors in Siamese fighting fish (Clayton & Hinde 1967;Simpson 1968). It should be noted that the fighting fish is able to quickly acclimate to a new environment (e.g., Matos et al 2003;Dzieweczynski et al 2014a). 1.…”

“…After a maximum of 7 h, the first observation (before bubble nest, BB) began; a female intruder was inserted into the box, which was initially covered by an opaque partition so that the test fish was prevented from viewing the stimulus. It should be noted that the fighting fish is able to quickly acclimate to a new environment (e.g., Matos et al 2003;Dzieweczynski et al 2014a). After 10 min following the insertion of the female intruder, the partition was removed, allowing visual contact between the experimental fish and the intruder.…”

Life in a bubble: the role of the labyrinth organ in determining territory, mating and aggressive behaviours in anabantoids

“…Audience effects have also been observed in male–female interactions (Dzieweczynski et al ., ; Dzieweczynski & Walsh, ) and female–female interactions (Dzieweczynski et al ., 2014 a ). During courtship with a female, males increase their opercular flaring, fin spreading and nest monitoring in the presence of an audience male rival.…”

“…For example, Dzieweczynski et al . (, b ) found that female B. splendens actually preferred ‘lover’ males (docile individuals) compared with ‘fighter’ (aggressive individuals), reasoning that the former are less likely to injure females during mating. Similarly, Kuperberg et al .…”

Audience effects and aggressive priming in agonistic behaviour of male zebrafish, Danio rerio

“…Several studies have reported the occurrence of audience effects in both mating and agonistic contexts. Indeed, the presence of bystanders can influence the mating decisions of observed animals (Blum, Plath, Tiedemann, & Schlupp, 2008; and the aggressive behaviour of both males (Doutrelant, Mcgregor, & Oliveira, 2001;Dzieweczynski, Earley, Gree, & Rowland, 2005;Dzieweczynski, Gill, & Perazio, 2012;Fitzsimmons & Bertram, 2013;Matos, Peake, & McGregor, 2003) and females (Dzieweczynski, Greaney, & Mannion, 2014). Interestingly, the effect of the presence of bystanders on signallers' behaviour can vary depending on the composition of the audience (Doutrelant et al, 2001;Fitzsimmons & Bertram, 2013).…”