Hooked on Anal Fins: Poecilia reticulata Mating Choice of Females with the Presence of an Anal Fin.

Abstract

The Center for the Study of Sexual Selection in Fishes has put their research at the center of understanding different factors that influence mating. We hypothesize that the male guppy will prefer the female with the anal fin present over the female that lacks the anal fin due to their physical appearance. In order to test our hypothesis, we set up five trials for five minutes, and allowed a rest period of five minutes in between trials. The results show that the male guppy spent more time with the female model that lacked an anal fin, but expressed mating behavior to the female with the anal fin. This implies that the female anal fin had a strong impact on the male guppies mating choice, but not on the overall time spent with each model. These results did not support nor oppose our hypothesis, we expected the male to be more attracted to the female with the anal fin. Eventually the results that we have collected from our research may help us as scientists better understand the relationship between female and male guppies and their preferences for mating.