Behavioral and Population Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes

该项目涉及加勒比蓝头濑鱼，Thalassoma bifasciatum。它有两个主要目标：通过实验操作，它将调查自然选择和男性特征之间的因果关系，以前的相关性研究表明是重要的。其他研究假设特定的功能传达健身，但没有通过实验建立因果关系。本节中的实验代表了第一次全面的实地调查，直接健身的后果，女性表达交配偏好。通过一系列连续的删除和更换男性在珊瑚礁上，女性将反复挑战，以作出选择的男性谁是高度可变的功能被证明是重要的择偶。由此，我们可以估计雌性之间配偶选择的一致性和可变性，表达选择在繁殖力、受精率和生长方面的后果，也可以确定利益的来源（雄性或雌性）。这些结果在通过对交配偏好进化的替代解释进行排序方面具有重要的应用。

This project involves the Caribbean bluehead wrasse, Thalassoma bifasciatum. It has two major objectives: Through experimental manipulation, it will investigate the causal relationship between natural selection and male features that prior correlation studies have suggested to be important. Other investigations have assumed that particular features convey fitness, but have not established the causal connection through experimentation. The experiments in this section represent the first comprehensive field investigation into the direct fitness consequences to females for expressing a mating preference. Through a series of successive removals and replacements of males on a reef, females will be repeatedly challenged to make choices among males who are highly variable in a feature shown to be important in mate choice. From this, one can estimate consistency and variability of mate choice among females, the consequences of expressing a choice in terms of fecundity, fertilization rate, and growth, and also identify the source of the benefit (male or female). The results have important applications in sorting through alternative explanations for the evolution of mating preferences.