Male Guppy Mating Behaviors Affected by Large Orange Female

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment is to determine if the color and size of the female guppies influences the courtship behaviors in male guppies. Male guppies are attracted to bigger females and females with bright colors. It is generally known that the mating choices of most female species have a tendency to be influenced by the visual characteristics of their male counterparts but in this case we observed the influences on mating choices of the male guppies when choosing a female guppy as guppies are sexually dimorphic. Firstly, one male guppy will be placed in the tank and was allowed to familiarize to its surroundings. After the male guppy has been exposed to the choices of two colored models (grey and orange) and two sizes options (large and small). Our results showed that the male guppies are more likely to show some courtship behavior and tend to spend longer times on the side of the tank that has colored models and large size models.