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Recent findings The general experimental setup consisted of two way mate choice experiments Gravid females were exposed to one male per species on both sides of a fish tank Two different settings were used One in which females and males were completely isolated both chemically and partly visually In the second setup visual barriers where absent and chemical communication was possible These setups provided the basis for the following findings Wright et al tested if rearing light conditions affect female preference Created light mimicked the natural light conditions of both species The experiment showed that rearing light conditions so the visual environment significantly affected female preference for courtship behaviour of both species As expected females reared under shallow water light conditions preferred P pundamilia males In contrast to this result females reared under deep water light conditions did not show any preference These findings were based on typical courtship behaviour observations of both males quiver and lateral display and females which normally move to or either away from the male Possible effects of test light female species and male size were nonsignificant They proposed two possible explanations First the used light conditions induce the expression of certain pigments like opsin which cause either red of blue colourations The second explanation involves the exposure of females to certain male phenotypes which could cause imprinting of colour preferences Beside examining female preferences they also explored the extent in which these species showed assortative preference
