Research Specimen

Amazon mollies

Amazon mollies, Poecilia formosa, are a unisexual, gynogenetic hybrid fish. Their parental species are P. latipinna (male) and P. mexicana (female), in which the hybridization event occurred about 100,000 generations or so ago. They inhabit freshwater pools, ditches, streams springs and the like, ranging along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean from central Texas to central Mexico. They are considered to be sexual parasite because although they are unisexual they still require the sperm of the parental species to trigger embryogenesis. Therefore, they over lap the ranges for both the P. latipinna and the P. mexicana.

My research focus is to extract the social influences that may explain the maladaptive aggressive behaviors found in the Amazon mollies. To do this I include various techniques of behavioral tests, field studies, genetics, common garden setups, and mesocosum studies.

My current research at FSU uses the Amazon molly to investigate how the social environment (particularly the genomes of the individuals they interact with) can influence the imense behavioral variation found within and among clonal lineages. For this, I forcus on the theory of indirect genetic effects to predict that the social partners one interacts with causes epigentic changes within the brain, and this experience varies from individual to individual.

Sailfin mollies

Sailfin mollies, Poecilia latipinna, are part of the Poeciliid family of livebearing fish, relatives of guppies, swordtails and mosquito fish. They inhabit freshwater pools, ditches, streams springs and the like, ranging along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean from south North Carolina to north Mexico. Male mating behaviors in this species have two components: 1) a male can court the female, display the fins and quiver in front of her, in combinations with more forceful tail beatings; or 2) sexually harass the female, approaching the female, nipping at her gonopore then forcing copulations. The latter is a more common strategy for smaller males, and the former more common for larger or more colorful males; however, all males use both tactics just at different frequencies.

My research focus is to extract the social influences that may lead to one behavior or the other, and how each influences life history from the view point of the males and females. In addition, I look at behavioral and social conditions that may influence the dynamics of a unisexual / sexual mating system with the unsexial species, P. formosa.