Wolves in sheep’s clothing: three new cases of aggressive mimicry in Red Sea coral reef fishes

Luiz A. Rocha, Joseph DiBattista, Tane H. Sinclair-Taylor, Michael L. Berumen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Here we document three cases of mimicry in coral reef fishes not previously reported in the literature involving two groupers (Epinephelus leucogrammicus and Plectropomus marisrubri) and a soapfish (Diploprion drachi) as mimics, and two wrasses (Larabicus quadrilineatus and Cheilinus quinquecinctus) and a blenny (Meiacanthus nigrolineatus) as models. All three cases are of aggressive mimicry, with a predatory species mimicking a harmless one, and in one of the cases, the mimicry is also Müllerian, where both the predator and harmless species are unpalatable.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1019-1023
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Natural History
Volume54
Issue number15-16
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 30 2020

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