Abstract
The reactions of 20 male and 20 female pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) and longear sunfish (L. megalotis peltastes) to conspecifics and heterospecifics of the opposite sex were studied. Female pumpkinseeds showed a preference for conspecific males in the absence of visual cues; female longears showed a preference for conspecific males when both types of male could be seen. Males of both species did not discriminate between the two kinds of females in either the presence or absence of visual cues. Female choice of a conspecific spawning partner may be an important ethological isolating mechanism between these two species. A mechanism for hybridization between them is proposed.
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