OFFSPRING QUALITY AND FEMALE CHOICE IN THE GUPPY, POECILIA-RETICULATA

This study evaluated the offspring viability prediction of the condition-dependent and Fisherian models of female choice in the guppy. Families of full-sibling females were bred with the male they preferred or did not prefer in a choice experiment. The physical condition, sexual behaviour and coloration of the offspring were evaluated. There were no significant differences between offspring attributable to the type of sire. However, there were significant family and sire-type by family interactions for physical condition, male mating behaviour and coloration. These significant effects indicate that consistency within families may be due to genetic effects. Genetic analyses indicate that genetic variation probably exists for prolonged swimming performance, physical condition and display rate. The results of this study and other studies on other fish have shown that these measures of constitution are correlated with components of viability. These results are interpreted in the framework of the condition-dependent and Fisherian models of female choice.