A causal ethological analysis of the display of variable colour patterns in the fish Tilapia zillii (Cichlidae)

Tilapia zillii (Gervais) - a substrate breeding cichlid fish, practising parental care - displays, mainly during interactions with conspecifics, a variety of different black marking patterns on body and fins, which contrast with a greyish-silver groundcolour to a varyiug e{ent. The present study aims at contributing to the understanding of mechanisms effectuating the different marking patterns and uses causal ethological analysis as a fust approach to this problem. ... Zie: Summery