The two-spotted goby (Pomatoschistus flavescens) is a coastal marine fish inhabiting the European coasts. Males use visual and acoustic courtship to attract females into their nest and to motivate them to mate. The relative influence of the different courtship behaviors on mating success is unknown in P. flavescens. This study investigates the influence of visual and acoustic courtship on spawning success in P. flavescens as well as the effect of temperature on courtship behavior and spawning success. We show that in P. flavescens, males that succeeded to mate and obtained more eggs produced more drums and stayed longer in the nest. Spawning success and the number of eggs is also higher when females stay longer in the nest. However, males successful in mating produced less thumps. Male visual courtship increases with temperature, but temperature did not influence any other behavior, including the number of drums, nor did it affect the number of laid eggs. Whether temperature influences acoustic features
and if those changes can have implications in mate choice and reproductive success, remains to be studied. Further research is needed to shed more light on the influence of temperature variations on fish reproductive interactions.
promotor/supervisor feedback
nothing yet
