Poecilia reticulata; the Effects of Female Coloration on Male Mating Behaviors

Abstract

 Knowing the mating habits of guppies is beneficial in the case of selective breeding.  If we are able to speed up the mating process by offering up the right combination of male and female then it will aid in the future by producing the wanted traits of the guppy species. We can deduce which type of female, the male prefers by watching his behaviors towards the different models. Our experiment consisted of a total of 10 trials that lasted 5 minutes each. We had 5 different females; blue, purple, orange, white, and purple with a pregnant spot, each were placed in the tank with a control female so we could compare the behaviors. Our group hypothesized that male guppies will show more extreme mating behviors to brighter colored females. Our results have shown that there is a slight correlation between bright colored females and males mating choice.