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Updated: Jun 9, 2026

Basic Methods for the Study of Reproductive Ecology of Fish in Aquaria
Published on: July 20, 2017
Female ornamentation and egg carotenoids of six sympatric gobies
P A Svensson1, J D Blount, E Forsgren
1Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway. andreas.svensson@sci.monash.edu.au
Abstract:
Belly colouration, gonad carotenoid concentration and skin transparency were quantified in gravid Gobiusculus flavescens, as well as in females of five sympatric gobies where belly ornamentation has not been described. Although G. flavescens females did, indeed, have far more colourful bellies than the other species, this could only in part be explained by a high concentration of total gonad carotenoids. Comparable, or occasionally higher, carotenoid levels were found in the gonads of other species. Instead, the unusual ornamentation of G. flavescens arises from a unique combination of carotenoid-rich gonads and a highly transparent abdominal skin.
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