Territorial aggression can be sensitive to the status of heterospecific intruders |
| |
Authors: | Topi K Lehtonen Jeffrey K McCrary |
| |
Institution: | a Lehrstuhl für Zoologie und Evolutionsbiologie, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany b School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Australia c FUNDECI/GAIA, Estación Biológica, Laguna de Apoyo Nature Reserve, Nicaragua |
| |
Abstract: | Territorial animals are known to be able to differentiate between intruding individuals posing a low or high threat and adjust their aggressive response accordingly. However, plastic territorial aggression based on recognising individuals with different attributes is typically assumed to be relevant only in the context of conspecific interactions. In this study, we investigated territorial aggression of neotropical cichlid fish in their natural habitat to assess whether responses to different types of individuals of another species can also be plastic. We show that arrow cichlids (Amphilophus zaliosus) adjusted their territorial aggression regarding the status of heterospecific intruders: breeding individuals of Amphilophus astorquii received a lower level of aggression than non-breeders. The same pattern was also found for the two different types of A. astorquii individuals intruding into conspecific territories. These results suggest that heterospecific individuals should not be ignored when considering selection pressures shaping plasticity of aggressive behaviour in territorial animals. |
| |
Keywords: | Aggression Breeding colouration Dear enemy Midas cichlid complex Species interactions Territoriality |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|