Guppy Harassment
Research done by the University of Exeter in England, found that male guppy fish sexual harassment of female guppies makes it difficult for female guppies to form social bonds with other female guppies or recognize each other.
After a group of female guppies experienced harassment, they had trouble recognizing other female guppies in the group. They were also more likely to form bonds with newly introduced female guppies. The group without male guppies could easily recognize one another and preferred female guppies from the group, instead of outsiders.
Why the female guppies behaved this way and why sexual harassment has such an effect on them is not known. They speculate that harassed female guppies may prefer outside female guppies because they may want to enter a more peaceful group.
Guppy Evolution
A research team at the University of California, Riverside discovered that guppies can evolve in only a few years. Over 200 wild-caught guppies were introduced into two separate environments in a previously guppy-free river. One environment had predators, while the other did not.
Eight years later, the researchers discovered that female guppies produced more embryos each reproductive cycle if there were predators around. In the predator-free environment, female guppies used less energy on reproduction and produced fewer embyos.
To see if the reproductive changes helped the guppies survive predation, the researchers put more wild-caught guppies into the river. The adapted guppies had a 54- to 59-percent increase in survival rate over the newly introduced guppy fish.
Although an eight-year study on evolution seems fast, 13 to 26 guppy fish generations passed during that time; longer-lived species take many more years to evolve in this way.
References
“Sexual Harassment From Males Prevents Female Bonding, Fish Study Shows.” Sciencedaily.com
“When Evolution Is Not So Slow And Gradual.” Sciencedaily.com