Tokis-Phoenix
^_^
"Sexual harassment in the wild by some fish may be causing the female of the species to risk death by swimming with predators, according to research";
http
/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/n...est/5060694.stm
Full report:
"Dr Darren Croft from the University of Wales, Bangor along with a team from Leeds University found female guppies often avoided the males.
The study, published in The American Naturalist, is used to understand behaviour in order to conserve and protect species and habitats.
The guppy is a popular aquarium fish.
Too dangerous
"Male guppies spend most of their time displaying to females, but if his courtship displays don't impress her, males will attempt to sneak a mating with her when she is not looking," said Dr Croft, whose team carried out its research in Trinidad.
"As in many vertebrates it is the males that 'dress to impress', males guppies have bright colour patterns they use to attract females, whilst females are a dull brown colour," he added.
Because the bright colours also attract predators male fish prefer to swim in 'safer' water.
Females guppies might be using this to their advantage by venturing into the deep water where the predators lurk, and where it was too dangerous for the males to follow.
By doing so, females avoid the attention of males but risk being eaten by the predators.
Dr Croft said sexual segregation was not restricted to fish.
Extinct
"It is often found in deer and antelopes and may even occur in humans.
"Ancient Greek mythology tells of a nation of female warriors knows as the Amazons who lived on an island an only met men to trade and reproduce," he said.
Understanding why and how this behaviour occurs is essential to conserve and protect species and habitats, said Dr Croft.
"In many ecosystems predators are the first to go extinct and our work shows that this may have any, perhaps unexpected, knock on effects - in this case females may suffer more sexual harassment," he added."
I've always been very aware of how much male guppys and other male livebearers can harrass the females, they will do this pretty much whenever they can regardless of the condition of the female, i've even seen male platies try to mate with sick females, or male guppys mate with pregnant females trying to give birth.
Hearing this study though, it makes it all the more important for all livebearer keepers in particular to pay attention to gender ratio stocking in their livebearers- the fact that some females will actually risk death so they can be avoided by the males makes it obvious that not all females like to be sexually harrassed 24/7.
I personally think you should have at least 3-4females per male guppy/platy, although most people advise 2-3 as a minimum amount of females, the more females the better as then at least the males attention will be more diverted between the females rather than constantly concentrated on just a couple.
The harrassment some males give towards the females can easily stress them to the extent they die or become ill. All-male groups of guppys can just mean they try to mate with each other their sex drives are so high, but this is an act of dominance over the weaker individual which is not very nice.
If you go for livebearers, you should make sure that;
a. Your tank is very planted or decorated- the more cover and hiding places it has, the less stressed the females are going to be, they also seek cover when they are about to give birth or just generally don't want to be seen by the males.
b. You have plenty of females to your males, at least the bare minimum, but preferably more.
c. Make sure you can handle fry populations in the tank- many livebearers are renowned for their ability to breed on a large and regular basis.
d. Feed your fish the right foods- many livebearers like guppys, platies, mollys etc really appreciate a lot of veg in their diet for example. Healthy proper diets for your fish will help you have healthier fish overal.
http
/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/n...est/5060694.stmFull report:
"Dr Darren Croft from the University of Wales, Bangor along with a team from Leeds University found female guppies often avoided the males.
The study, published in The American Naturalist, is used to understand behaviour in order to conserve and protect species and habitats.
The guppy is a popular aquarium fish.
Too dangerous
"Male guppies spend most of their time displaying to females, but if his courtship displays don't impress her, males will attempt to sneak a mating with her when she is not looking," said Dr Croft, whose team carried out its research in Trinidad.
"As in many vertebrates it is the males that 'dress to impress', males guppies have bright colour patterns they use to attract females, whilst females are a dull brown colour," he added.
Because the bright colours also attract predators male fish prefer to swim in 'safer' water.
Females guppies might be using this to their advantage by venturing into the deep water where the predators lurk, and where it was too dangerous for the males to follow.
By doing so, females avoid the attention of males but risk being eaten by the predators.
Dr Croft said sexual segregation was not restricted to fish.
Extinct
"It is often found in deer and antelopes and may even occur in humans.
"Ancient Greek mythology tells of a nation of female warriors knows as the Amazons who lived on an island an only met men to trade and reproduce," he said.
Understanding why and how this behaviour occurs is essential to conserve and protect species and habitats, said Dr Croft.
"In many ecosystems predators are the first to go extinct and our work shows that this may have any, perhaps unexpected, knock on effects - in this case females may suffer more sexual harassment," he added."
I've always been very aware of how much male guppys and other male livebearers can harrass the females, they will do this pretty much whenever they can regardless of the condition of the female, i've even seen male platies try to mate with sick females, or male guppys mate with pregnant females trying to give birth.
Hearing this study though, it makes it all the more important for all livebearer keepers in particular to pay attention to gender ratio stocking in their livebearers- the fact that some females will actually risk death so they can be avoided by the males makes it obvious that not all females like to be sexually harrassed 24/7.
I personally think you should have at least 3-4females per male guppy/platy, although most people advise 2-3 as a minimum amount of females, the more females the better as then at least the males attention will be more diverted between the females rather than constantly concentrated on just a couple.
The harrassment some males give towards the females can easily stress them to the extent they die or become ill. All-male groups of guppys can just mean they try to mate with each other their sex drives are so high, but this is an act of dominance over the weaker individual which is not very nice.
If you go for livebearers, you should make sure that;
a. Your tank is very planted or decorated- the more cover and hiding places it has, the less stressed the females are going to be, they also seek cover when they are about to give birth or just generally don't want to be seen by the males.
b. You have plenty of females to your males, at least the bare minimum, but preferably more.
c. Make sure you can handle fry populations in the tank- many livebearers are renowned for their ability to breed on a large and regular basis.
d. Feed your fish the right foods- many livebearers like guppys, platies, mollys etc really appreciate a lot of veg in their diet for example. Healthy proper diets for your fish will help you have healthier fish overal.
