Abstract
Animals assess the fighting ability of conspecifics either by engaging in aggressive interactions or observing contests between others. However, whether individuals assess physical prowess outside the context of aggressive interactions remains unknown. We examined whether male green swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri) extract information about the fighting ability of solitary individuals via observation and whether acquiring such information elicits behavioral modifications. Contests preceded by mutual visual assessment were significantly shorter than fights where only one or neither of the two individuals was informed in advance. Focal animals initiated aggressive behavior more often against larger opponents only after previewing their adversary, indicating that swordtails can extract information about relative body size from watching solitary conspecifics. When a fighting disadvantage is perceived, observers adopt tactics that increase their probability of winning the contest.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Blair Gilliland for assistance in data transcription, Michael Boles, Matthew Druen, Trish Sevene-Adams, Matthew Grober, Gordon Schuett, Justin LaManna, and several anonymous referees for enlightening suggestions, and the Animal Behavior Society, Kentucky Academy of Science, and National Science Foundation for funding. This research followed the Guidelines for the Use of Animals in Research (IACUC no. 98050 at the University of Louisville).
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An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0431-6.
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Earley, R.L., Tinsley, M. & Dugatkin, L.A. To see or not to see: does previewing a future opponent affect the contest behavior of green swordtail males (Xiphophorus helleri)?. Naturwissenschaften 90, 226–230 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0415-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0415-6