MATE CHOICE THROUGH VISUAL CUES AND COLOR PREFERENCE IN THE PRAWN Macrobrachium rosenbergii
Palaemonidae, color vision, visual preference, visual discrimination, sexual selection
The freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii is a species of great economic importance. There are three adult male morphotypes in the species: small males can turn into orange claw males and these into blue claw males. However, there is little information about color preference and the importance of visual cues in mate choice in this species. Thus, this research seeks to analyze the preference for different colors in juveniles and adults and the role of visual cues in mate choice. We evaluated the preference of juveniles and adults for colors by placing the animal into an aquarium containing shelters of different colors to analyze the attraction of the prawn to them. For the analysis of the importance of visual cues in mate choice, we will first take photographs of the prawns and a river water environment. From these photographs, we will create computer stimuli that will correspond to figures with the exact coloration of the claw of a morphotype that will appear on a background that will correspond to the coloration of the claw of another morphotype or the coloration of the river water. We will display these stimuli to the prawns on a monitor. Defensive responses by the prawns will indicate that they are able to discriminate the color of the figure from the color of the background. Subsequently, we will analyze the mate choice in a four-arm experimental maze, through the preference of females for photographs of males of different sizes and colors of claw and the preference of males for photographs of females in different reproductive stages.