Variations in Color: Male Guppies and Their Sexual Preferences Based on Colored Female Models

Abstract

In our experiment we tested how different colored female guppy models (green, purple, orange, purple with gravid spot, cool grey, and red with gravid spot) compared to the control female model (warm grey) can affect the mating behavior of male guppies. We recorded the amount of time a male guppy spent in the experimental model’s zone and time spent in the control model’s zone. Our hypothesis was that if we put the orange model in against the control, then the male guppy will spend more time in the orange model’s zone than the control. We believe this because the color orange is a common color of food so the guppy is already attracted to it. Our results show that out of all the experimental groups the one time when the average time spent on the experimental side than the control side was with the orange model. Our hypothesis was somewhat supported but the time difference was not significant enough to support our hypothesis according to our Wilcoxon test. We could have improved our results if we could somehow use live female guppies or to make the models seem more realistic.