M. C. P. Amorim, M. E. Knight, Y. Stratoudakis, G. F. Turner (2004):
Differences in sounds made by courting males of three closely related
Lake Malawi cichlid species. Journal of Fish Biology, Volume 65(5),
1358-1371
Abstract: Courtship sounds made by three sympatric cichlid species,
Pseudotropheus zebra, P. callainos and an undescribed species known as P.
'zebra gold' were recorded and compared to investigate the potential role of
acoustic signals in mate choice. Sounds were emitted during 'quiver' and
'circle' components of the male courtship display and consisted of rapidly
repeated pulse units. Some sound variables differed significantly among
species with P. callainos generally being separated from the other two
species. This species produced sounds with higher peak frequency (for a
given length) and lower number of pulses than P. 'zebra gold' and higher
pulse durations than P. zebra. In addition, standard length was inversely
related to peak frequency in both P. 'zebra gold' and P. callainos(this
relation was not tested in P. zebra due to the small sample size). These
differences might indicate different regimes of intraspecific sexual
selection among the three species.
Sonja Amoser, PhD Student
University of Vienna, Institute of Zoology
Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43-1-4277-54467 oder +43-664-5006106 (private)
Fax: +43-1-4277-54506
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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