Commitments to aggression and nest sites in male Betta splendens
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 95 (3):
436--449 (June 1981)Abstract
Results from 4 experiments indicate that male Siamese fighting fish constructed nests that were relatively isolated from conspecific males. Following nest construction, the presence of a male opponent elicited nest fixation, further nest building, and an agonistic sequence, (i.e., attacks alternating with flight movements), along with gill displays occurring near the opponent. The form of a male-male encounter depended upon the distance between a resident's nest and the opponent as well as the individual differences in combatants' tolerance for the presence of a conspecific nearby. Also, the intensity of aggression early in an encounter was positively correlated with the intensity of subsequent fighting. Males appear to compete for space through the use of aggressive behavior and to coordinate their fighting activities by means of visual signals. An incentive model of visual communication is proposed in which visual cues emanating from a displaying male opponent elicit attack with an intensity that is directly proportional to the persistence of the opponent and inversely proportional to the distance between fish.