WellBeing International WBI Studies Repository 2016 Mating Games Squid Play: Reproductive Behaviour and Sexual Skin Displays in Caribbean Reef Squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea Jennifer Mather University of Lethbridge Follow this and additional works at: https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/repbeh Part of the Animal Studies Commons, Behavior and Ethology Commons, and the Comparative Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Mather, J. (2016). Mating games squid play: reproductive behaviour and sexual skin displays in Caribbean reef squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea. Marine and freshwater behaviour and physiology, 49(6), 359-373. https://doi.org/10.1080/10236244.2016.1253261 This material is brought to you for free and open access by WellBeing International. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of the WBI Studies Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Mating games squid play: reproductive behaviour and sexual skin displays in Caribbean reef squid Sepioteuthis sepioidea Jennifer Mather Department of Psychology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Canada KEYWORDS Squid; Sepioteuthis sepioidea; mating strategies; sexual skin displays; scramble competition mating system; sex-specific spatial movement strategies ABSTRACT Observation of the sexual interactions of Sepioteuthis sepioidea squid during the short reproductive stage of their lives showed a scramble competition system, with both male and female polygyny. Mature females were faithful to a specific location in the daytime, whereas males moved from group to group and formed short-term consortships with females. Males defended females from other males, particularly with an agonistic Zebra display. Male–female pairs exchanged Saddle-Stripe displays, after which males might display an on–off Flicker. There was considerable female choice.