Sexual harassment in fish
Sexual harassement is a problem females of many species face. A research team from the University of Leeds, led by Darren Croft (U. of Wales), has found that guppies, a popular aquarium fish, sometimes risk their lives to avoid the courtship of males. "Male guppies spend most of their time displaying to females. But if their courtship displays don’t impress the females, males will attempt to sneak mating with them when they aren’t looking," says Croft. Consequently, female guppies sometimes opt to swim in places that contain few males, but many predators. While females are a dull brown color, the males are brightly colored so as to attract attention, making them hesitant to follow the opposite sex into dangerous waters. "Understanding why and how [sexual segregation] occurs is essential if we are going to conserve and protect species and habitats," explains Croft. "In many ecosystems, predators are the first to go extinct, and our work shows that this may have many, perhaps unexpected, effects. In this case, females may suffer more sexual harassment."
Female guppies risk their lives to avoid too much male attention, EurekAlert.org