The use of multimodal communication during courtship in Malawi cichlids

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America Vol. 120; no. 5_Supplement; pp. 3326 - 3327
• Main Authors: Smith, Adam R., van Staaden, Moira J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-11-2006
• Subjects: Freshwater; Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos; Melanochromis johanni; Malawi; Africa, Nyasa L
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/1.4781236

The cichlids of Lake Malawi are often considered the quintessential example of a species radiation driven primarily by sexual selection and relying on visual cues. However, the description of sound production by courting males in several species raises the possibility that acoustic signaling may play a significant role in the selection process. This study describes the mating calls from multiple species in the genera Melanochromis and Metriaclima in order to discern if there is active selection of call characteristics between closely related species or whether differences are more likely the result of drift. Variation in total call duration and fundamental frequency within genera often exceeded that between genera, particularly between the sister species Melanochromis johanni and Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos. This suggests that mating calls may indeed be subject to divergent sexual selection in closely related species. Moreover, in situ sound recordings from Lake Malawi indicate that this behavior is of ecological relevance and not simply an artifact of laboratory conditions. Together, these results suggest that current models of sexual selection in Malawian cichlids may benefit from consideration of previously ignored sensory modalities. The plasticity inherent in such multimodal processing may prove of particular importance to the species-rich African cichlid radiation.