Phenotypic traits and resource quality as factors affecting male reproductive success in a toadfish

In nature, it can be challenging to figure out whether success at attracting mates and reproducing is due to something intrinsic about an individual or something about the quality of the resources they possess. In a series of lab and field studies using the plainfin midshipman fish, we show that both factors are complex and that resource quality can impose a limit on reproductive success regardless of the quality of the resource owner. A male’s …