Behavioral Ecology Advance Access originally published online on November 26, 2008
Behavioral Ecology 2009 20(1):138-144; doi:10.1093/beheco/arn125
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Color polymorphism and intrasexual competition in assemblages of cichlid fish
a Research Group Behavioral Biology, University of Groningen, PO Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands b Division of Environmental and Evolutionary Biology, Graham Kerr Building, Faculty of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK c Centre for Ecological and Evolutionary Studies, University of Groningen, PO Box 14, 9750 AA Haren, The Netherlands d Institute of Zoology—Aquatic Ecology and Macroevolution, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 6, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland e Centre of Ecology, Evolution and Biogeochemistry, Swiss Federal Institute for Aquatic Sciences, EAWAG, CH-6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
Address correspondence to P.D. Dijkstra. E-mail: p.dijkstra{at}bio.gla.ac.uk.
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Abstract |
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The origin and maintenance of phenotypic polymorphisms is a classical problem in evolutionary ecology. Aggressive male–male competition can be a source of negative frequency-dependent selection stabilizing phenotypic polymorphisms when aggression is biased toward the own morph. We studied experimental assemblages of red and blue color morphs of the Lake Victoria cichlid fish Pundamilia. Aggression was investigated in mixed-color and single-color assemblages. We found that aggression was indeed biased toward males of the same color, which could in theory reduce aggression levels in mixed-color assemblages and promote coexistence. However, previous studies showed high aggression levels in red and dominance of red over blue males in dyadic interactions, which could hinder coexistence. We found that coexistence in mixed-color assemblages reduced the level of aggression in red males but not in blue males. Red and blue males were equally dominant in mixed-color assemblages, suggesting that predictions derived from dyadic interactions may not be valid for an assemblage situation. The results are consistent with field data: the geographic range of red is nested within that of blue, suggesting that red cannot displace blue. Our study suggests that male–male competition may be a significant force for maintaining phenotypic diversity.
Key words: cichlid fish, color polymorphism, Lake Victoria, male–male competition, sexual selection.
Received 19 March 2008; revised 7 June 2008; accepted 21 June 2008.
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  P. D. Dijkstra, S. van Dijk, T. G.G. Groothuis, M. E.R. Pierotti, and O. Seehausen Behavioral dominance between female color morphs of a Lake Victoria cichlid fish Behav. Ecol., May 1, 2009; 20(3): 593 - 600. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
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