Experimental investigations of the evolutionary significance of sexually dimorphic nuptial colouration in Gasterosteus aculeatus (L.): the relationship between male colour and male behaviour
The intensities of red body and blue eye colour in dull (and possibly bright) males reliably signals their behavioural vigour. Males with medium intensity colouration signal that they are more vigorous than their dull conspecifics; however, there is no association between colour and behavioural intensity within this group. A truth in advertising mechanism is thus potentially very powerful at either end of the colour intensity spectrum but is less effective for fish whose colouration is in the central section of the spectrum. Males with medium intensity colouration may be more strongly influenced by stochastic factors such as previous experiences or colour relative to neighbours. The increased importance of personal history introduces a source of disorganization into the mating system that may oppose the directional force of truth in advertising and thereby increase the ambiguity of the male colour signal.