Cargando…
Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish
BACKGROUND: Intrasexual competition over access to resources can lead to aggression between individuals. Because overt aggression, i.e. fights, can be costly for contestants, the communication of aggressive motivation prior to engagement in a physical fight is often mediated by conventional signals....
Autores principales: | , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2021
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10127425/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37170176 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40850-021-00075-9 |
_version_ | 1785030461352837120 |
---|---|
author | John, Leonie Rick, Ingolf P. Vitt, Simon Thünken, Timo |
author_facet | John, Leonie Rick, Ingolf P. Vitt, Simon Thünken, Timo |
author_sort | John, Leonie |
collection | PubMed |
description | BACKGROUND: Intrasexual competition over access to resources can lead to aggression between individuals. Because overt aggression, i.e. fights, can be costly for contestants, the communication of aggressive motivation prior to engagement in a physical fight is often mediated by conventional signals. Animals of various taxa, including fishes, display visual signals such as body coloration that can dynamically be adjusted depending on the individual’s motivation. Male individuals of the West African cichlid Pelvicachromis taeniatus express a yellow body coloration displayed during courtship but also in an intrasexual competition context. RESULTS: Within-individual variation in male yellow body coloration, as quantified with standardized digital photography and representation in a CIELab color space, was examined in a mating context by exposing males to a female and in a competitive intrasexual context, i.e. in a dyadic contest. Additionally, spectrometric reflectance measurements were taken to obtain color representations in a physiological color space based on spectral sensitivities of our model species. Exposure to females did not significantly affect male color expression. However, analysis of body coloration revealed a change in within-individual color intensity and colored area after interaction with a male competitor. In dominant males, extension of coloration was positively correlated with restrained aggression, i.e. displays, which in turn explained dominance established between the two contestants. CONCLUSION: Body coloration in male P. taeniatus is a dynamic signal that is used in concert with display behavior in communication during intrasexual competition. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10127425 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | BioMed Central |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-101274252023-04-26 Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish John, Leonie Rick, Ingolf P. Vitt, Simon Thünken, Timo BMC Zool Research Article BACKGROUND: Intrasexual competition over access to resources can lead to aggression between individuals. Because overt aggression, i.e. fights, can be costly for contestants, the communication of aggressive motivation prior to engagement in a physical fight is often mediated by conventional signals. Animals of various taxa, including fishes, display visual signals such as body coloration that can dynamically be adjusted depending on the individual’s motivation. Male individuals of the West African cichlid Pelvicachromis taeniatus express a yellow body coloration displayed during courtship but also in an intrasexual competition context. RESULTS: Within-individual variation in male yellow body coloration, as quantified with standardized digital photography and representation in a CIELab color space, was examined in a mating context by exposing males to a female and in a competitive intrasexual context, i.e. in a dyadic contest. Additionally, spectrometric reflectance measurements were taken to obtain color representations in a physiological color space based on spectral sensitivities of our model species. Exposure to females did not significantly affect male color expression. However, analysis of body coloration revealed a change in within-individual color intensity and colored area after interaction with a male competitor. In dominant males, extension of coloration was positively correlated with restrained aggression, i.e. displays, which in turn explained dominance established between the two contestants. CONCLUSION: Body coloration in male P. taeniatus is a dynamic signal that is used in concert with display behavior in communication during intrasexual competition. BioMed Central 2021-05-01 /pmc/articles/PMC10127425/ /pubmed/37170176 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40850-021-00075-9 Text en © The Author(s) 2021 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Open AccessThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data. |
spellingShingle | Research Article John, Leonie Rick, Ingolf P. Vitt, Simon Thünken, Timo Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
title | Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
title_full | Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
title_fullStr | Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
title_full_unstemmed | Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
title_short | Body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
title_sort | body coloration as a dynamic signal during intrasexual communication in a cichlid fish |
topic | Research Article |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10127425/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37170176 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40850-021-00075-9 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT johnleonie bodycolorationasadynamicsignalduringintrasexualcommunicationinacichlidfish AT rickingolfp bodycolorationasadynamicsignalduringintrasexualcommunicationinacichlidfish AT vittsimon bodycolorationasadynamicsignalduringintrasexualcommunicationinacichlidfish AT thunkentimo bodycolorationasadynamicsignalduringintrasexualcommunicationinacichlidfish |