Abstract
ABSTRACT Egg-mimic, or lollypop darters comprise four species in which breeding males develop large knobs supported by attenuated rays above the second dorsal fin. These structures are presumably the product of sexual selection via female mate choice behavior. I investigated female preference for male fin knobs in three species of egg-mimic darters by experimentally removing fin ornamentation from one of a pair of males and allowing a female to choose between the experimental (non-knobbed) and control (knobbed) male. Females contributed their eggs to nests of control males in each of 33 replicate trials. The results of this study demonstrate a role for female choice in the maintenance of exaggerated male fin ornamentation in these species.
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