Male mate choice in fishes

Selection generally favours male competition for females, and female mate choice of males. If, however, females vary in quality, and if males are limited in the maximum number of females with which they can mate, then selection should also favour male mate choice. We report on male mate choice in two species of fishes with different mating systems: the threespine stickleback, which has male parental care, and the coho salmon, which has female parental care. In both species, males allocated their mating effort in direct proportion to female quality.