Fickle nature of female goby fish may offer clue to human behaviour

A study in goby fish has revealed that from year to year the female of the species finds different traits attractive. In some years it is the biggest males that get most attention, while in others it is those most skilled at building nests.
Whether a female fish goes for a buff body or architectural flair depends not so much on her “type” as on what is fashionable at the time.
In the study, which is published today in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, researchers followed the preferences over four years of female sand gobies in the Finnish Baltic Sea. In two of the years there was a strong preference for the biggest male fish. In the other two years, size was a secondary concern and the fish that were most skilled at building nests were favoured.
The scientists have not yet pinned down the trigger for the changing trends of what female fish want, but say it is likely to be a combination of environmental factors and herd mentality.


Fickle nature of female goby fish may offer clue to human behaviour