The Effect of Female Poecilia Reticulata’s Color Brightness When Being Chosen for Mating

Abstract

Many factors can affect the mating selection of Poecilia reticulata, these can include size and color variation. In this experiment, we studied the difference between a control-sized warm grey female compared to neon orange and neon pink control-sized females. This was designed to test whether the male guppies are more attracted to females of more natural colors. We hypothesized that the male guppies, when introduced to the bright colored females and a warm gray colored female, the male guppies will favor the natural colored female over the bright colored female. Since one of the main characteristics of the female guppies is color, the question being asked is if the male guppies prefer the female 3-D models of certain sizes or colors over others. We analyzed data from multiple neon colored 3-D models and the control group natural gray 3-D model and compared the time spent on each side of the tank to see what the male guppies preferred. We collected this data from the database references that were given by the Center for the Study of Sexual Selection in Fishes. After analyzing the data, we can conclude that there is no significant difference in the time spent on opposite sides of the tank with the females, and therefore, our hypothesis is not supported due to the male guppies' indifference to color.