High rates of male courtship in a female-ornamented pipefish
Type of content
UC permalink
Publisher's DOI/URI
Thesis discipline
Degree name
Publisher
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Language
Date
Authors
Abstract
In species with sex-specific signalling traits that appear to be ornamental (i.e. are conspicuous and with no obvious natural selection benefit), the ornamented sex typically initiates courtship and is most active in courtship. Here, we report for the first time courtship displays in the extremely sexually dimorphic, female-ornamented wide-bodied pipefish (Stigmatopora nigra), revealing unexpected behaviours. Females use their sex-specific ornament during courtship displays, as expected, but rarely in female–female interactions. Surprisingly, males initiated 61% of reciprocated courtship bouts and chased females in 17% of the bouts. This chasing behaviour could be a form of male harassment or be indicative of female disinterest in ardent males, either of which was unexpected to be found in this female-ornamented species. Our results highlight the need to study the details of species’ behaviours in considering the potential roles of sexual selection and sexual conflict in shaping sexual dimorphism.
Description
Citation
Keywords
Ngā upoko tukutuku/Māori subject headings
ANZSRC fields of research
31 - Biological sciences::3109 - Zoology::310903 - Animal developmental and reproductive biology