Damselfish

Males have relatively smaller stomach sizes during spawning season compared to females due to the allocation of resources for courtship and the guarding of nests.

When current speeds are low, the damselfish forages higher in a water column where the flux of plankton is greater and they have a larger food source.

Smaller fishes forage closer to their substrates than do larger ones, possibly in response to predation pressures.

[5] There are many examples of resource partitioning and habitat selection that are driven by aggressive and territorial behaviors in this group.

[7] Longfin damselfish (Stegastes diencaeus) around Carrie Bow Cay, Belize (16°48.15′N, 88°04.95′W), have been shown to actively protect planktonic mysids (Mysidium integrum) in their reef farms.

[9][10] Male damselfish perform a courtship behavior called the signal jump, in which they rise in a water column and then rapidly swim back downward.

The signal jump involves large amounts of rapid swimming, and females choose mates based on the vigor with which males do so.

[11] In the beaugregory damselfish S. leucostictus males spend more time courting females that are larger in size.

Research has shown that males that mate with larger females do indeed receive and hatch greater numbers of eggs.

To minimize overall costs, females change their number of spawning visits depending on male territory distance.

The males generally consume clutches that are smaller than average in size, as well as those that are still in the early stages of development.

For the males, filial cannibalism is an adaptive response to clutches that do not provide enough benefits to warrant the costs of parental care.