Information represents a powerful resource in not only the human society, but also the animal kingdom. In this project, we wonder how individuals obtain information and generate adequate responses when signals are modified by the environment during transmission? Fiddler crabs are ideal to study animal communication as they heavily rely on visual signals and cues in their daily lives. They are widely distributed across different types of intertidal habitat. 

In this project, we specifically address how signal variation promotes species communication efficacy across different environmental gradients, and how this process further contributes to individual fitness and local adaptation. We implement a combination of approach, including field observation, experimental manipulation, digital image analyses, and robotic crab device, to examine the variation in signal conspicuousness across different environments. 

Female preference refers to a choosing bias toward certain male traits. During mate choice, females may form the mating decisions based on either a pre-existing, absolute preference or by the comparing a group of potential mates and selecting the male of highest quality. While comparative mate evaluation is widely recognized in nature and constitutes the basis of sexual selection (e.g., the evolution of secondary sexual traits), this does not exclude the possibility that females hold innate preferences when choosing their mating partners. In this project, we aim to investigate the evolution of female preference by understanding whether and how it changes in different ecological and environmental conditions.