Male Guppy Attraction to Caudal Fin Variation in Females

Abstract

The Center for the Study of Sexual Selection in Fishes (CS³F) are focusing in the proximate causal stimuli for mate selection in guppies. This study expands upon the studies that indicate attraction to larger female guppies by introducing a custom 3D printed female model with a larger caudal (tail) fin. From this we determine that male fish will be more visually stimulated towards the female model with a large caudal fin compared to a regular sized caudal fin. The experiment included submerging both female guppy models, the control and the experimental, into the tank via an experimental rig. Location and behavior of live male guppies were observed for 300 seconds with 10 trials all with different male guppy specimens. According to our experiment, our hypothesis seems to be supported because the male guppies spent quite a bit more time near our large caudal fin experimental female model with also performing more observable mating behaviors towards them.