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Intersexual copying by sneaker males of the peacock blenny
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
In general, animals prefer to mate with individuals they have observed being courted or in close
association with sexual partners. This phenomenon of mate copying has been demonstrated in several
species, but so far no study has provided substantial evidence that it is adaptive. Furthermore, mate
copying has been viewed only in the context of females copying other females or males copying other
males. In the peacock blenny, Salaria pavo, parasitic males (sneakers) may gain an advantage by copying
the association patterns of females with bourgeois males (large males that defend nests). We tested the
sneaker’s preference for one of two males and subsequently presented the nonpreferred male to the
sneaker in the company of females, while the preferred male was presented alone. If the association of
females with bourgeois males influences the sneaker’s preference, we predicted the sneaker would spend
more time close to the nonpreferred male, when females were no longer present. We found that (1)
sneakers preferred to associate with the larger of the two males and (2) when the previously nonpreferred
male was presented in the company of females the sneakers tended to approach that male sooner,
although not significantly so, and to spend more time close to it. Thus, parasitic males seem to choose
host males both by independent mechanisms (larger males were preferred) and by nonindependent
mechanisms (males observed with females were preferred). We discuss the adaptive value of sneakers
choosing males by each of these mechanisms.
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Citation
Animal Behaviour, 65, 355-361