Body size, mating system, and ecology interact to shape behaviour and cognition in two syntopic pairs of poeciliid fish

Female traits often covary with male mating tactics. In single-tactic mating systems, males show a restricted range of phenotypes. In contrast, in mixed-tactic species, males vary in behaviour, size, and coloration. The consequences of such differences in mating system for female behaviour and cognition are poorly understood. Poeciliid fish are an excellent clade for addressing this question: males of some species have exclusively forced mating (all-coercive), whereas others (mixed-tactic) also display or defend territories. We compared exploration, shyness, social motivation, and cognitive flexibility in two syntopic species pairs: all-coercive Gambusia affinis and mixed-tactic Poecilia latipinna (Texas), and all-coercive Pseudopoecilia fria and mixed-tactic Poecilia gilli (Ecuador). Species differed by mating system in social motivation, exploration, and inhibitory control at each location. However, directionality diverged from studies in predator-free conditions. All-coercive taxa were more exploratory and socially motivated in both pairs and more cognitively flexible in the Ecuadorian pair. Relationships between shyness, mating system, and body size contrasted between the locations, implicating ecology. General linear models revealed size and location to supersede mating system in explaining trait variation. We show that mating system alone cannot explain species-level variation in female behaviour and cognition, and we discuss factors, such as predation regime, that might also shape traits.

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  Biological Journal of the Linnean Society

• Publication date

  2025-11-01

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1093/biolinnean/blaf095
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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