ABSTRACT

Several features of blennies immediately catch the naturalist’s eye: the ornaments, the colour patterns, the occupancy of a nest site, the threat displays, the courtships and the sometimes extreme degree of sexual dimorphism. These are, of course, behaviours and morphological adaptations associated with reproduction. The theory of sexual selection provides a framework for understanding the unusual nature of the traits and the often bewildering variation between species. In this chapter, we will review the literature on sexual selection in blennies and our own experience of studying the reproductive habits of blennies with the aim of drawing it together under the current sexual selection theory.