Percy writes:
The recent discussion prompts me to ask whether in species where males help raise the young, do we know whether drabness in males is more common? A drab male would be more likely to be around to help, so females might develop a greater preference (tolerance?) for drab males.
This appears to largely be the case among the Cichlid family of fishes, at least those in the wild.
From the
Wiki on Cichlids.
quote:
All species show some form of parental care for both eggs and larvae, often nurturing free-swimming young until they are weeks or months old.
Communal parental care, where multiple monogamous pairs care for a mixed school of young have also been observed in multiple cichlid species, including Amphilophus citrinellus, Etroplus suratensis, and Tilapia rendalli.[46][47][48] Comparably, the fry of Neolamprologus brichardi, a species that commonly lives in large groups, are protected not only by the adults, but also by older juveniles from previous spawns.[49]
Several cichlids, including discus (Symphysodon spp.), some Amphilophus species, Etroplus and Uaru species feed their young with a skin secretion from mucous glands.[4][50]
Parental care falls into one of four categories:[50] substrate or open brooders, secretive cave brooders (also known as guarding speleophils[51]), and at least two types of mouthbrooders, ovophile mouthbrooders and larvophile mouthbrooders.[52]
Generally same size, same drab look (until artificially selected for bright colors by human breeders).
{ABE} There are many counterexamples however, it is a big family{/ABE}
Another quote from the same article may prove of interest to this crowd.
quote:
Cichlids are particularly well known for having evolved rapidly into a large number of closely related but morphologically diverse species within large lakes, particularly Tanganyika, Victoria, Malawi, and Edward.[8][9] Their diversity in the African Great Lakes is important for the study of speciation in evolution.[10]
Edited by anglagard, : No reason given.
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