Abstract
The relative extent of orange-pigmented spots in the colour patterns of male guppies, Poecilia reticulata, has previously been shown to be a basis for female choice. Parent–offspring and half-sib breeding experiments and selection experiments were conducted to determine if heritability of this character is maintained in the face of apparent sexual selection. The results demonstrate strong heritability of orange area. High father–son regression slopes, strong response to selection and a relatively small dam component of variance indicate that this character has Y-linked inheritance. This result for a quantitative character is in agreement with earlier work showing Y-linked inheritance of particular colour pattern elements in guppies. The high heritability of orange area suggests that this trait is probably not an indicator of fitness variation as postulated by some ‘good genes’ models for the evolution of female mate choice but that it does have the potential for further evolutionary change and elaboration.
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
References
Cade, W H. 1984. Genetic variation underlying sexual behavior and reproduction. Am Zool, 24, 355–366.
Carson, H L, and Teramoto, L T. 1984. Artificial selection for a secondary sexual character in males of Drosophila silvestris from Hawaii. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA, 81, 3915–3917.
Endler, J A. 1978. A predator's view of animal color patterns. Evol Biol, 11, 319–364.
Endler, J A. 1983. Natural and sexual selection on color patterns in poeciliid fishes. Environ Biol Fishes, 9, 173–190.
Endler, J A. 1986. Natural Selection in the Wild. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Falconer, D S. 1981. Introduction to Quantitative Genetics, 2nd edn. Longman, London.
Fisher, R A. 1930. The evolution of dominance in certain polymorphic species. Am Nat, 64, 385–406.
Haskins, C P, Haskins, E F, McLaughlin, J J A, and Hewitt, R E. 1961. Polymorphism and population structure in Lebistes reticulatus, a population study. In: Blair, W. F. (ed.) Vertebrate speciation, University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 320–395.
Hedrick, A V. 1988. Female choice and the heritability of attractive male traits: An empirical study. Am Nat, 132, 267–276.
Houde, A. 1987. Mate choice based upon naturally occurring color pattern variation in a guppy population. Evolution, 41, 1–10.
Houde, A. 1988a. Genetic difference in female choice between two guppy populations. Anim Behav, 36, 510–516.
Houde, A. 1988b. The effects of female choice and male-male competition on the mating success of male guppies. Anim Behav, 36, 888–896.
Houde, A E, and Endler, J A. 1990. Correlated evolution of female mating preference and male color patterns in the guppy Poecilia reticulata. Science, 248, 1405–1408.
Kodric-Brown, A. 1985. Female preference and sexual selection for male coloration in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 17, 199–206.
Kodric-Brown, A. 1989. Dietery carotenoids and male mating success in the guppy: and environmental component to female choice. Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 25, 393–401.
Kodric-Brown, A, and Brown, J H. 1984. Truth in advertising: the kinds of traits favoured by sexual selection. Am Nat, 124, 309–323.
Lande, R. 1981. Models of speciation by sexual selection on polygenic characters. Proc Nat Acad Sci, USA, 78, 3721–3725.
Long, K D, and Houde, A E. 1989. Color as a visual cue for female choice in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata). Ethology, 82, 316–324.
Maynard Smith, J. 1978. The Evolution of Sex. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
McLain, D K. 1987. Heritability of size, a sexually selected character, and the response to sexual selection in a natural population of the southern green stink bug, Nezara viridula (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae). Heredity, 59, 391–395.
Moore, A J. 1989. The inheritance of social dominance, mating behavior, and attractiveness to mates in male Nauphoeta cinerea. Anim Behav, 39, 388–397.
Nicoletto, P F. 1991. The relationship between male ornamentation and swimming performance in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 28, 365–370.
Simmons, L W. 1987. Heritability of a male character chosen by females of the field cricket, Gryllus bimaculatus. Behav Ecol Sociobiol, 21, 129–133.
Sokal, R R, and Rohlf, F J. 1981. Biometry, 2nd edn. W. H. Freeman and Co., New York.
Turner, H N, and Young, S S Y. 1969. Quantitative Genetics in Sheep Breeding, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY.
Turrelli, M. 1984. Heritable genetic variation via mutation-selection balance: Lerch's zeta meets the abdominal bristle. Theor Pop Biol, 25, 138–193.
Williams, G C. 1975. Sex and Evolution. Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Winge, O. 1927. The location of eighteen genes in Lebistes reticulatus. J Genet, 18, 1–43.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Houde, A. Sex-linked heritability of a sexually selected character in a natural population of Poecilia reticulata (Pisces: Poeciliidae) (guppies). Heredity 69, 229–235 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1992.120
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/hdy.1992.120
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
A large and diverse autosomal haplotype is associated with sex-linked colour polymorphism in the guppy
Nature Communications (2022)
-
Genetic basis of orange spot formation in the guppy (Poecilia reticulata)
BMC Ecology and Evolution (2021)
-
Role of thyroid hormones in color diversity of male guppies: experimental data on Endler’s guppy (Poecilia wingei)
Environmental Biology of Fishes (2021)
-
Genetic segregation for male body coloration and female mate preference in the guppy
BMC Research Notes (2020)
-
Genetic conflict between sexual signalling and juvenile survival in the three-spined stickleback
BMC Evolutionary Biology (2016)