FEMALE CHOICE OF MULTIPLE MALE CRITERIA IN GUPPIES - INTERACTING EFFECTS OF DOMINANCE, COLORATION AND COURTSHIP

I experimentally examined the relative importance of social dominance, color patterns, and courtship behavior in male mating and reproductiv e success in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Female choice of males is based on a complex set of behavioral and morphological traits. The res ults of 59 paired-male one-female visual choice and mating trials show ed that male mating success was positively correlated with dominance, courtship intensity, and male coloration. Only dominant males engaged in full copoulations, and they sired two-thirds of the broods. An anal ysis of the paternity of broods and results of mating trials showed th at a female's visual response when the sexes are separated by a glass partition is a good predictor of a male's reproductive success when th e partition is removed and they are allowed to mate. A canonical corre lation analysis of male behavioral and morphological traits indicated that female visual response and male mating success were positively co rrelated with male courtship and with agonistic behavior. However, the relative importance of color varied. Carotenoid and iridescent spots were important both in attracting the female's attention and in enhanc ing male mating success. Melanins were not correlated with either mati ng success or female response. There was a relatively low correlation (48%) between male behavioral and morphological variables and female r esponse variables (full copulation and female visual response). These results suggest that female choice is subtle, and is based on a comple x suite of male behavioral and morphological traits as well as on comp etitive interactions among males.