Copyright - with Credit to Dr Alex Schnell https://directory.science.mq.edu.au/users/aschnell
Copyright - with Credit to Dr Alex Schnell https://directory.science.mq.edu.au/users/aschnell

To the right, to the right: Cuttlefish boys are more bangable if they approach from the right

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International and Australian researchers suggest that the side you approach a lady from could increase your chances of canoodling with her... Well, if you're a cuttlefish. The team were looking at right- or left-eye bias in the cephalopods, and noticed that in mating interactions, males achieved higher success rates when they approached a lady-cuttle from the right. Additionally, the team says that this bias also stretches into male fights, where the majority are left-eye dominant, but the right dominant boys were more successful in their battles.

Journal/conference: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Link to research (DOI): 10.1098/rspb.2018.2507

Organisation/s: Southern Cross University

Media Release

From: The Royal Society

Fighting and mating success in giant Australian cuttlefish is influenced by behavioural lateralization 

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Behavioural lateralization in the animal kingdom is widespread. Yet it is unclear why many populations have unequal numbers of left- and right-biased individuals. We investigate this phenomenon using giant Australian cuttlefish. During fighting, male cuttlefish favoured the left eye and these males showed higher contest escalation; but minority-type individuals with a right-eye bias achieved higher fighting success. During mating interactions, male cuttlefish approached the female’s right side during a mating attempt and these males achieved higher mating success. Our data supports the idea that population-level biases are an evolutionary consequence of the fitness advantages involved in intraspecific interactions.

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