Some female fish have discovered a cunning strategy to cope with unwanted and persistent male attention, pretending to be interested and swimming away before anything happens.
Researchers have noticed an intriguing behavior in several species of freshwater fish called cichlids: females will act as though they are open to mating, but will quickly leave before any actual activity takes place. It’s a clever survival strategy, not just a gesture.
By using this tactic, they can avoid being harassed by aggressive or unattractive guys. This tactic is used by these women to purchase time and wait for better mates rather than to give in. They increase their chances of producing long-term, healthier children by doing this.
This finding clarifies how partner selection in the animal kingdom may be quite dramatic and planned. As it happens, fish, like people, occasionally require a little technique to handle romance.
And not just cichlids are involved. In order to divert attention from themselves, female guppies and other species have also been observed to employ similar strategies.
It appears that there are many surprises in nature, and these astute swimmers are demonstrating to us that setting limits is important even in the underwater world.
Remember this the next time someone tells you that fish are uninteresting: some of them are doing it for all the right reasons.
