Risk-sensitive mating decisions in a visually compromised environment

Wong BBM, M Järvenpää, Kai Lindström

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    11 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Reproductive activities are often conspicuous and can increase the risk of predation. Evidence suggests that individuals are capable of responding to predators in a risk-sensitive manner. However, most studies tend to consider only the predator-mediated responses of males and females in isolation and with little regard to differences in local environmental conditions. Here, we experimentally investigate the effects of environmental visibility (turbidity) and predation risk on reproductive decisions in the sand goby, Pomatoschistus minutus, when exposed to a visually oriented predator, the European perch, Perca fluviatilis. We found that gobies were more reluctant to spawn in the predator's presence, although larger males spawned sooner than smaller males. Interestingly, latency to spawning was unaffected by the visual environment, suggesting that gobies may be relying on non-visual cues under turbid conditions.
    Original languageUndefined/Unknown
    Pages (from-to)600–602
    Number of pages3
    JournalBiology Letters
    Volume5
    Issue number5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2009
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Keywords

    • eutrophication
    • Gobiidae
    • mate choice
    • predation risk
    • sexual selection

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