Abstract
Animal colour signals serve important functions in intraspecific interactions, including species recognition, mate choice and agonistic behaviour. An increasing interest concerns ultraviolet (UV) wavelengths, for instance studies on the effect of UV in mating decisions. More recently, some studies also established that UV signals affect intrasexual interactions. We studied the role of UV during aggressive encounters between male three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), a species in which UV has an effect on female and male mate choice and shoaling behaviour. To that aim, we compared the aggressive response of a territorial male to male intruders, either seen in UV-including (UV+) or UV-lacking (UV−) conditions. Our prediction was that, if UV wavelengths are used in male–male competition, a territorial male should show less competitive behaviour towards an intruder representing a lower threat, i.e. the one presented without UV light. Male sticklebacks showed significantly lower levels of aggression towards male opponents lacking an UV component to their coloration than male opponents possessing this colour component. Discrimination was not influenced by a difference in brightness between the UV+ and UV− stimuli. Finally, we present some reflectance–spectrophotometrical data of two skin regions (cheek and abdomen) of the experimental males and analysed relationships between colorimetric variables, body variables and behaviour. Our study emphasises that UV visual cues are of importance in different communicational tasks in the three-spined stickleback.
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful to Ricarda Modarressie, Sebastian Baldauf, Timo Thünken, Joachim Frommen for discussion and comments on the manuscript and Susanne Lindsteding and Nicole Henning for their help with data collection. We gratefully acknowledge the permission of Jürgen Wittler for catching sticklebacks at the field site. Manuscript preparation was supported by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (BA 2885/1–3). The study conforms to the legal requirements of Germany.
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Rick, I.P., Bakker, T.C.M. Males do not see only red: UV wavelengths and male territorial aggression in the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). Naturwissenschaften 95, 631–638 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0365-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-008-0365-0