부산대학교 도서관

Dummy field experiments were undertaken to test whether the tail-up posture of the butterflyfish Chaetodon lunulatus is a sufficient stimulus to release the tail-up display of other individuals. Two types of dummies were presented to the fish in their home territories: one mimicking the fish in a tail-up posture and the other in a normal posture. The fish performed the tail-up display to the tail-up dummy. This result suggests that the tail-up posture has the signal function of eliciting the tail-up display in other individuals. This signal function is considered to play an important role in behavioral mechanisms for controlling the aggression of the fish.