Figure 1.

Measurement of Lake Malawi Cichlid Bower Behaviors in Laboratory Aquariums

(A–C) Approximately 200 species of Lake Malawi cichlids exhibit bower behaviors. In these species, sociosexual cues trigger reproductive adult males to construct large courtship structures by manipulating sand with their mouths. The geometric structure of the bower is species-specific. (A) Example of a castle structure built in Lake Malawi. (B) Example of a castle structure built in a standard aquatics facility aquarium. (C) Top down view of acrylic tray used to constrain bower building to a third of the tank. Video recordings using this view were used to characterize bower building behaviors throughout this article. Scale bar, 10 cm. Photo credit to Dr. Isabel Magalhaes (A).

See also Figure S1.