Sensory fusion is used by the males of several animal species to discriminate the mating status of females by evaluating their phenotypic traits. The predominant trait used is olfactory cues, and the role of visual cues is not yet fully understood. The ability of Poecilia reticulata males to evaluate females' receptivity based on visual cues was investigated. Guppy males adopt two different mating strategies, courtship displays and forced copulation, towards receptive and pregnant females, respectively. Robotic counterparts mimicking receptive and pregnant females were developed to test whether males relied only on visual information to determine a females' mating status. Exposure to the robotic receptive females evoked courtship behaviours, while forced copulation attempts were more frequent towards the robotic pregnant females. When the robotic fish were simultaneously exposed, regardless of the presence or absence of receptive-female olfactory cues, males expressed their preference for the receptive female. Visual processing showed that fish social interactions played a strategic role in their collection of information, especially when other stimuli were not available. The proposed ethorobotic approach allowed for assessing the role of visual cues in the mating choice of P. reticulata males and highlighting the information processing methods and cognition in aquatic animals.

中文翻译：

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生物机器人线索显示特立尼达孔雀鱼雄性如何识别接受性雌性的形态特征

几种动物物种的雄性使用感觉融合来通过评估雌性的表型特征来区分雌性的交配状态。使用的主要特征是嗅觉线索，视觉线索的作用尚未完全了解。研究了 Poecilia reticulata 雄性根据视觉线索评估雌性接受能力的能力。孔雀鱼雄性采用两种不同的交配策略，求偶展示和强迫交配，分别针对接受性和怀孕的雌性。模仿接受和怀孕雌性的机器人对应物被开发来测试雄性是否仅依靠视觉信息来确定雌性的交配状态。暴露于具有接受能力的机器人女性会引起求爱行为，而对机器人怀孕女性的强迫交配尝试更为频繁。当机器鱼同时暴露时，无论是否存在接受雌性嗅觉线索，雄性都会表达对接受雌性的偏好。视觉处理表明，鱼类的社交互动在其信息收集中发挥了战略作用，尤其是在其他刺激不可用的情况下。拟议的 ethorobotic 方法允许评估视觉线索在 P. reticulata 雄性交配选择中的作用，并突出水生动物的信息处理方法和认知。尤其是当其他刺激不可用时。拟议的 ethorobotic 方法允许评估视觉线索在 P. reticulata 雄性交配选择中的作用，并突出了水生动物的信息处理方法和认知。尤其是当其他刺激不可用时。拟议的 ethorobotic 方法允许评估视觉线索在 P. reticulata 雄性交配选择中的作用，并突出水生动物的信息处理方法和认知。