Habitat Choice as a Function of Lighting Environment in Bluefin Killifish

ABSTRACT Lighting environments are important for multiple tasks in visually oriented species, including identification of proper habitat, finding food, avoiding predators, and finding, choosing, and defending mates. Variation in lighting environments can lead to local adaptation and/or the expression of different traits as a function of developmental plasticity. Habitat choice as a function of lighting environments can theoretically alter these dynamics. Here, we examined habitat choice as a function of lighting environments in bluefin killifish, Lucania goodei , originating from different lighting environments: a clear spring and a tannin‐stained swamp. We predicted that fish would prefer lighting environments similar to their natal conditions and found partial support for this hypothesis. Killifish from the swamp population preferred red‐shifted lighting environments with yellow backgrounds over broad spectrum lighting environments with blue backgrounds, whereas killifish from the clear spring population showed no consistent preference for either lighting environment. These findings suggest that animals from narrow spectral habitats are more likely to remain in and return to those habitats, while animals from broad spectrum habitats may more readily tolerate and disperse across a wide range of lighting environments in nature.