Building on the post from Wednesday, a paper recently came out from Behavioral Ecology (A. Bahr et al., 2012 click here for a link to the paper) investigating the potbellied seahorse mating system. Although the seahorse mating system is based on female competition and male mate choice, this work suggests that both sexes actually exert a preference for mate choice. The authors investigated olfactory cues in the form of major histocompatibility class II beta chains (MHIIb) and also visual cues of body size. Results suggest that males prefer and mate with larger females, but disregard MHIIb cues. Conversely, females show a preference for males that are dissimilar in regards to MHIIb, but have no preference for body size. In conclusion, the authors posit this system is actually mutual mate choice and not simply male mate choice.
If you missed the video of the potbellied seahorse courtship you can find it below.
