Behavioral and Population Ecology of Coral Reef Fishes

该项目涉及加勒比海蓝鳍金枪鱼。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，而先前的相关研究表明这两者之间的关系是重要的。其他研究假设特定的特征传递健康，但还没有通过实验建立因果联系。这一部分的实验是第一次对雌性表达交配偏好对健康的直接影响进行全面的实地调查。通过一系列连续移除和替换珊瑚礁上的雄性，雌性将被反复挑战，在雄性中做出选择，这些雄性在一个被证明对配偶选择很重要的特征上具有高度的变异性。由此，人们可以估计女性选择配偶的一致性和可变性，以及表达选择在繁殖力、受精率和生长方面的后果，并确定收益的来源(男性或女性)。这些结果在整理交配偏好进化的不同解释方面有重要的应用。

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.