The Study of Mode of Reproduction and Mating Behavior in the Livebearing Fish Family Poeciliidae
Dr. BJA PolluxorDr. DN Reznick
Experimental Zoology GroupDepartment of Biology
Wageningen UniversityUniversity of California Riverside
6708 WD WageningenRiverside, CA 92521
the NetherlandsUSA
E-mail: -mail:
E-mail: -mail:
Web: http://www.faculty.ucr.edu/~gupy/Reznick/
This form was filled in by:
Name: ______
Date: ______
Contact information: ______
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I. Species information
Species name: ______
Collection site (if known): ______
Date of collection (if known): ______
Collected by (if known): ______
II. Differences in coloration between males and females
a) Is there a difference in pigmentation between males and females? ______
If yes, can you please describe these sexual differences in pigmentation:
- What, if any, are the differences in body pigmentation? ______
- What, if any, are the differences in coloration of the dorsal fin? ______
- What, if any, are the differences in coloration of the tail fin? ______
- Are there any other differences in coloration (e.g. mouth, belly or gonopodium)? ______
b) Some species may have differences in structural coloration between males and females. Structural coloration is difficult to see and may only be visible at specific angles where it is apparent as a ‘metallic iridescent blue, purple or bronze hue’. Is there a difference in structural coloration between males and females? If yes, can you please describe these differences? ______
c) Some species may have only one or a few dominant males with beautiful coloration, while all remaining males lack coloration. For example, some mollies have dominant male(s) that have a beautifully colored dorsal fin, while the others don’t. Were all the males in your tank beautifully colored, or were there only a few dominant males? ______
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III. Sexual behavior
d) Protocol for behavioral observations
- To standardize observations by different people as much as possible, it is preferable that observations are performed in a similar way. An ideal standardized protocol that we recommend is placing 5 males and 5 females in a 10 gallon (40 liter) tank for smaller species or a 20 gallon (80 liter) tank for larger species. Fish will need to acclimate to their new surroundings for at least a few days before you make observations. Please observe male behavior for a period of 5 minutes (for details see e). Did you follow this standardized protocol? ______
- We realize that it may not be possible for everybody to follow this standardized protocol. It would be great if you could indicate here below how your observations differ from the protocol described above:
- How many males and females were in your tank at the time of observation? ______
- Can you please indicate the amount of time you spend observing the fish?
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e) Description of sexual behavior
When observing the males, we would appreciate it if you could focus on one male at a time and record the following behaviors:
- Please indicate the amount of time that a female was being chased by a male. ______
- Please indicate the number of copulation attempts by a male (defined as a male flipping its gonopodium forward and swimming towards a female in an attempt to mate). ______
- Did you observed any behavior that can be classified as sexual harassment or sneak copulation? Can you please describe this behavior in detail?
- Did you observe any behavior that can be typified as courtship behavior? Can you please describe this behavior in detail? ______
IV. Additional information
- What was the water temperature in your tank? ______
- Are you attaching any photos of the males and females showing their coloration (if so, can you give the filenames)? ______
- Are you attaching videos showing sexual behavior of this species (if so, can you give the filenames)? ______