Siamese fighting fish
Courtship behaviour

There has been much research in the courtship behaviour between male and female Siamese fighting fish. Studies generally focus on the aggressive behaviours of males during the courtship process. For example, one study found that when male fish are in the bubble nest phase, their aggression toward females is quite low. This is due to the males attempting to attract potential mates to their nest, so eggs can successfully be laid. It has also been found that in determining a suitable mate, females often "eavesdrop" on pairs of males that are fighting. When a female witnesses aggressive behaviour between males, she is more likely to be attracted to the male who won. In contrast, if a female did not "eavesdrop" on a fight between males, she will show no preference in mate choice. In regards to the males, the "loser" is more likely to attempt to court the fish who did not "eavesdrop", while the "winner" showed no preference between females who "eavesdropped" and those who did not.

One study considered the ways in which male Siamese fighting fish alter their behaviours during courtship when another male is present. During this experiment, a dummy female was placed in the tank. The researchers expected that males would conceal their courtship from intruders; instead, when another male fish was present, the male was more likely to engage in courtship behaviours with the dummy female fish. When no barriers were present, the males were more likely to engage in gill flaring at an intruder male fish. The researchers concluded that the male was attempting to court the female and communicate with its rival at the same time. These results indicate the importance of considering courtship behaviour, as the literature has suggested there are many factors that can dramatically affect the ways in which both male and females can act in courtship settings.
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