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© 1998 International Society for Behavioral Ecology
research-article |
Competitor intrusions and mate-search tactics in a territorial marine fish
Marine Science Program, University of the Virgin Islands St. Thomas, 00802, USVI
ABSTRACT
Recent theoretical studies have drawn attention to the importance of understanding the costs females experience during mate choice and mating and how females resolve the trade-offs presented by such costs. In garibaldi damselfish (Hypsypops rubicundus) females defend permanent feeding and shelter territories and must leave their territories to search for and spawn with nesting males. Both mate searching and spawning occur in bouts, separated by returns to the territory. I used focal female observations to test predictions of the hypothesis that such behavior is a means of minimizing the amount of food lost to competitors that enter the female's territory while she is searching for or spawning with males. Consistent with this hypothesis, there was a strong likelihood that the number of intruders entering the territory would increase linearly, and hence their total impact exponentially, with time away. In addition, the average duration of searching bouts and the duration of a spawning bout were significantly inversely related to a measure of territorial intruder pressure. Most intruders were heterospecific food competitors; incidence of intrusion by conspecifics was rare, and intruding conspeciflcs did not contest the owner upon her return. In addition, the time females spent in their territories before beginning another bout of searching was not positively related to the duration of the previous bout. Thus, there, is no support for the alternative hypotheses that returning to the territory is a means of preventing takeover of the territory by conspedflcs or is the result of fatigue.
Key words: mate choice, food competitor, damselfish, territory central place, trade-offs.
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  P. T. McDougall and D. L. Kramer Short-term behavioral consequences of territory relocation in a Caribbean damselfish, Stegastes diencaeus Behav. Ecol., January 1, 2007; 18(1): 53 - 61. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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