There are a Million Fish in the Sea, Will He Pick Me? The Effects of Color Brightness in Female Poecilia Reticulata During Mate Selection

Abstract

The key focus of this experiment is Sexual Selection in Fish, and how it is committed to studying the ecological, evolutionary, physiological, and behavioral aspects that form the Poecilia Reticulata species' mating system and the techniques associated with it. Male and female guppies often exhibit color variations that include reflectivity, intensity, and patches of color that vary in size, all of which influence the male's mating preference and mating behavior. Males also participate in trying to court the females. In order to show interest in a female, the male guppies will demonstrate courtship behaviors. In our experiment, we compared our control guppy, a warm gray female who is standard size (101001), with the standard size translucent orange female (114001) and standard size neon orange female (120001). Our experiment measured the amount of time in seconds the male guppy spent on the specific sides of the tank. We noticed the trend that the male guppy spent more time with the translucent orange guppy compared to the control guppy. Overall the parametric statistical tests showed none of the data was significant. We weren’t able to provide evidence that the color of the female guppy affects the male guppy's mating selection due to none of our tests being significant.