Female mate choice in Aidablennius sphynx, a fish with paternal care for eggs in a nest.

In species that reproduce sexually, individuals can maximize their reproductive output by choosing a mate that invests resources in the offspring, or a partner with such a genotype that the resulting offspring has a high probability to survive and reproduce. In many animal species females are the more choosy sex, because their reproductive success is limited by the number of eggs they can produce and not by the number of males the can mate with.
In this study I investigated female choice in the Mediterranean blenny Aidablennius sphynx. This species lives on rocky shores, 0 to 1.5 meters under the water surface. Males occupy narrow holes in the substrate throughout the breeding season. Females deposit eggs in these holes (hereafter called nests), and males fertilize them and care for the eggs until hatching. Paternal care consists of guarding the eggs against potential predators, aerating the eggs by fanning, and keeping the nest clean. Both, males and females, mate repeatedly and promiscuously throughout the breeding season. ...

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Summary

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