Division of Behavioural Ecology, Department of Aquatic Ecology and Macroevolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Wohlenstrasse 50a, CH-3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland.
J Fish Biol. 2009 Nov;75(7):1845-56. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2009.02442.x.
A rare form of alternative reproductive behaviour without simultaneous parasitic spawning was observed in Ophthalmotilapia ventralis, a lekking mouth-brooding cichlid from Lake Tanganyika. Floater males attempted to sneak opportunistically into the territory to actively court the female, while the owner (bourgeois male) defended the territory against other potential intruders. Floater males had more body fat than territory owners and generally higher condition factors. In field experiments, the response of bourgeois males and courted females was tested towards floaters and egg predators (a catfish Synodontis multipunctatus) present in the territories. Territory owners responded aggressively particularly to floaters, and female responsiveness to bourgeois male courtship tended to decline when floaters were present. The potential influence of reproductive parasitism on sexual selection in mouth-brooding cichlids is discussed.
在坦噶尼喀湖的领地产卵的口孵非寄生繁殖行为的罕见形式被观察到。在丽鱼科 Ophthalmotilapia ventralis 中，漂游雄鱼试图伺机潜入领地，积极求偶雌性，而领地所有者（资产阶级雄鱼）则抵御其他潜在入侵者。漂游雄鱼比领地所有者有更多的体脂肪，通常具有更高的健康因素。在野外实验中，测试了资产阶级雄性和被求偶雌性对领地中存在的漂游雄鱼和卵捕食者（一种鲶鱼 Synodontis multipunctatus）的反应。领地所有者对漂游雄鱼特别具有攻击性，而当漂游雄鱼存在时，雌性对资产阶级雄性求偶的反应倾向于下降。讨论了生殖寄生对口孵慈鲷性选择的潜在影响。
