23.1.06

'Male Enhancement' and the Swordfish

It seems our brethren the Swordtail fish (I should add they are not close relations) have invested their self esteem into the size of their...uh...'swords' as we primate males have.

Money quote:

"AL Basolo, who did some well-known work on mate preference in swordtails a few years ago (short answer: lady swordtails prefer males with longer swords), has a couple of new papers on the subject. She has looked at competition between males—the fishy equivalent of checking out the other guy's equipment in the lockerroom—and found that the length of the sword makes a big difference in the struggle between males, even with no females involved."


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