TY  - JOUR
A1  - Plath, Martin
A1  - Seggel, Uta
A1  - Burmeister, Heike
A1  - Heubel, Katja U.
A1  - Schlupp, Ingo
T1  - Choosy males from the underground : male mating preferences in surface- and cave-dwelling Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana)
N2  - Atlantic mollies (Poecilia mexicana) inhabit a variety of surface habitats, but they also occur in a sulfur cave in southern Mexico. We examined male mate choice relative to female body size in the cave population and in the most closely related surface-dwelling population from a nearby river. Males from both populations were either light- or dark-reared and could choose between two differently sized females either on the basis of visual cues in light or on the basis of solely nonvisual cues in darkness. Sexual preferences were estimated from the degree of association. Cave molly males always showed a preference for the larger female, both in light and in darkness. Among the surface males, only light-reared males showed a preference in the visual cues test, but not in darkness. In a control experiment, we demonstrated that male association preferences directly translate into actual mating preferences. Apparently, using visual cues for mate choice is the ancestral state in this system, and using nonvisual cues has evolved as a novel trait in the cave population. We discuss the evolution of nonvisual male mate choice in the context of changed environmental conditions, namely the absence of light, hypoxia, and toxic hydrogen sulfide in the cave
Y1  - 2006
UR  - http://www.springerlink.com/content/100479
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-005-0072-z
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tobler, Michael
A1  - Plath, Martin
A1  - Burmeister, Heike
A1  - Schlupp, Ingo
T1  - Black spots and female association preferences in a sexual / asexual mating complex (Poecilia, Poecilildae, Teleostei)
N2  - We investigated whether female association preferences for males are influenced by black spot disease (BSD), a parasite induced change of the host phenotype. We compared three different species of fish: a gynogenetic hybrid species, Poecilia formosa (amazon molly) and two sexual species (Poecilia latipinna and Poecilia mexicana), which were involved in the natural hybridisation leading to the amazon molly. Contrary to their sexual relatives, asexual amazon mollies significantly avoided images of males infected with black spot disease. We propose that amazon molly females have direct fitness benefits from choosing healthy males. The adaptive significance of the preference for BSD-uninfected males in the asexual amazon molly is yet unclear but may involve avoidance of predation or parasite infection as well as increased sperm availability
Y1  - 2006
UR  - http://www.springerlink.com/content/h865p1h6630k8675/
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0152-2
ER  -