Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Courtship sounds made by three sympatric cichlid species, Pseudotropheus zebra, P. callainos
and an undescribed species known as P. ‘zebra gold’ were recorded and compared to investigate
the potential role of acoustic signals in mate choice. Sounds were emitted during ‘quiver’ and
‘circle’ components of the male courtship display and consisted of rapidly repeated pulse units.
Some sound variables differed significantly among species with P. callainos generally being
separated from the other two species. This species produced sounds with higher peak frequency
(for a given length) and lower number of pulses than P. ‘zebra gold’ and higher pulse durations
than P. zebra. In addition, standard length was inversely related to peak frequency in both
P. ‘zebra gold’ and P. callainos (this relation was not tested in P. zebra due to the small sample
size). These differences might indicate different regimes of intraspecific sexual selection among
the three species.
Description
Keywords
Bioacoustics Cichlidae Mate choice Pseudotropheus Reproductive isolation Sound production
Citation
Journal of Fish Biology, 65, 1358-1371