Marine Biology Commons^™

A Female Audience Increases Frequency Of Showy Agonistic Displays In Male Siamese Fighting Fish, Raisa Lück

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

The audience effect refers to a situation where individuals alter displays in the presence of bystanders. By changing display choice, displayers can optimize their effectiveness against both the opponent and audience. Many displays – territorial, aggressive, warning, and threatening – fall into the broad category of agonistic behavior. Male Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) are known for being territorial, and they use the same set of stereotypical displays repeatedly from one male to the next. I observed effects of a female audience on male Betta displays to determine if males use certain displays more frequently than others when a female …