EFFECT OF PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE ON MATE CHOICE BY FEMALE MOTTLED SCULPINS

When gravid female mottled sculpins, Cottus bairdi, were courted by males, the likelihood that they would spawn depended on the size of the male that had courted them the day before. Females that had been courted previously by smaller males were more likely to spawn than were females that had been courted by larger males. These results support the conclusion that females use relative, rather than threshold criteria to assess male size. © 1994 The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour.