Sex differences in the cognitive abilities of a sex-changing fish species Labroides dimidiatus.

ABSTRACT: Males and females of the same species are known to differ at least in some cognitive domains, but such differences are not systematic across species. As a consequence, it remains unclear whether reported differences generally reflect adaptive adjustments to diverging selective pressures, or whether differences are mere side products of physiological differences necessary for reproduction. Here, we show that sex differences in cognition occur even in a sex-changing species, a protogynous hermaphroditic species where all males have previously been females. We tested male and female cleaner fish Labroides dimidiatus in four cognitive tasks to evaluate their learning and inhibitory control abilities first in an abstract presentation of the tasks, then in more ecologically relevant conte

SUBMITTER: Triki Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8278049 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature