Table 1.
An overview of experimental studies on the role of colouration in assortative mating among species and allopatric populations of cichlid fishes.
| Taxa | Origin | Sym-/allopatric | Conditions | Preferences | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visual cues only | |||||
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Sympatric | Broad spectrum light | Positive assortative | [184] |
| Labeotropheus | Lake Malawi | Allopatric | Broad spectrum light | Positive assortative | [185,186] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | td:quest | Broad spectrum light | Positive assortative; when conspecific males were not available, then colour-dependent preference for most similar species | [187] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Sympatric | Broad spectrum light | Positive assortative | [188] |
| Monochromatic light | Positive assortative | ||||
| Pundamilia | Lake Victoria | Sympatric | Broad spectrum light | Positive assortative | [189] |
| Monochromatic light | Random | ||||
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Allopatric | Broad spectrum light | Random | [113] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Sympatric | Broad spectrum light | Random | [114] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex and Cynotilapia | Lake Malawi | td:quest | Broad spectrum light | Dependent on colour pattern similarity, but not strictly positive assortative | [106] |
| Apistogramma | South America | Allopatric | Broad spectrum light | Dependent on colour pattern similarity | [108] |
| Visual and/or other cues | |||||
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Sympatric | Full contact, or visual + olfactory | Positive assortative | [114] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Allopatric | Full contact | Positive assortative to random; no discrimination between two similarly coloured morphs | [107] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Sympatric | Full contact | Positive assortative | [190] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Allopatric | Full contact | Random to complete; independent of colour similarity | [113] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Allopatric | Full contact under monochromatic light | Positive assortative in one species, random in another | [113] |
| Tropheus | Lake Tanganyika | Allopatric | Full contact | Positive assortative to random; not always correlated with colour pattern similarity | [109,191,192] |
| Apistogramma | South America | Allopatric | Full contact | Positive assortative | [121] |
| Pseudotropheus (Metriaclima) zebra complex | Lake Malawi | Sympatric | Olfactory only | Random | [188] |