Wednesday 5 December 2012

Zebrafish Change Color for Sex


New research shows that zebrafish suit up for sex, putting on different colors when trying to woo a mate.

The common home aquarium fish normally don't show any sexual dichromatism, or obvious differences, to human eyes at least, in the color of males and females of the species. But a group of researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna picked up subtle changes between the sexes when they studied zebrafish that were ready to mate.

The scientists used photography, computer software and human observations to study the color properties of zebrafish from both a wild and domesticated strain as they interacted with each other both in the morning, when mating and spawning occur, and again later in the day.

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