Stanford researchers discover the African cichlid's noisy
courtship ritual Male fish attract potential mates with grunts –
and females' hearing improves as they get ready to mate. African
cichlids enjoy an alien, exotic courtship routine. A dominant
male attracts choice females to his territory by dancing
seductively. If the female is sufficiently impressed, she lays
her eggs and immediately collects them in her mouth, where the
male fertilizes them. And, in some species, every once in a
while, a lower-ranking male will dart into the scene and try to
fertilize a few eggs before the dominant male knows what's
happened. At least that's what we thought was going on. But one
day, while watching this nostalgic display in the lab, Stanford
postdoctoral biology researcher Karen Maruska noticed something
unusual. A dominant male was courting a female in one corner of
the tank, at the entrance to a terra cotta pot he had claimed as
his territory. "Then, at the last minute, a subordinate male
made a beeline for them fr