The Effects of Female Size on the Mating Behaviors of Male Guppies

Abstract

It has been observed that female guppies’ attraction toward the colorful scales of male guppies has shaped the evolution of these small fish via the process of sexual selection. However, the mating preferences of the male guppies and the effects their preferences have on the gene pool are not as well known. While it was observed that males prefer overall larger females, it has not been properly studied on what specific dimensions of female body parts affect this behavior. We attempted to study the effects of changing one specific dimension of the female model on the behavior of male guppies. We used models with varying body depth lengths and recorded the number of mating displays directed at each model in order to observe the male response to each different sized model.