Jennifer L. Ripley, Phillip S. Lobel (2004): Correlation of acoustic and
visual signals in the cichlid fish, Tramitichromis intermedius.
Environmental Biology of Fishes, 71(4): 389-394.
Abstract: We investigated acoustic and visual communication concurrently in
wild caught adult and captive-born, first generation offspring of the East
African Rift Lake cichlid fish Tramitichromis intermedius. Only males emit
sound during courtship. Sound production is always accompanied by quivering,
but quiver behavior is not always accompanied by sound. This separation of
quivering and sound supports the hypothesis that sound production is
intentional serving a communicative role. As spawning nears, both sound
production and quiver behavior increase. In terms of the ontogeny of sound
production, the first observation of courtship occurs just days before the
first spawning event and the first sound emission accompanies the first
courtship activity. The accompaniment of quivering with sound as well as the
escalation of the two behaviors with the approach of spawning follows
similar patterns in wild caught and captive-born males. The tight
correlation between behavior and sound production in both groups indicates
their simultaneous performance plays an important role in reproduction. It
is probable that the ability to produce sound and perform quiver behavior at
the same time may be a measure of mate quality.
Key words: Cichlidae, sound production, spawning behavior, behavior
ontogeny, mate choice
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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