Other activities observed during fighting

but less frequently than those mentioned

in the preceding paragraph were
pushing and shoving with the bodies
crossed and in contact and revolving
slowly with crossed bodies.
The activities that accompanied fighting
were constant, rapid, and intermittent.
Both pair-mates were always
doing something, but each activity was
constantly interrupted by another of a
different type.
An attempt was made to record all
activities, as well as the changes in color
and pattern that occurred in the 35
fights. Also, all this was accompanied by
a running record of the time elapsed since
the fight began. Certain activities, such
as very rapid exchanges of bites, happened
so rapidly that they could have
been recorded in detail only with the aid
of slow-motion motion pictures. This
facility was not available. Therefore,
such sequences were recorded generally,
e.g., "rapid exchange of bites," without
attempting to record the actual number
of events in the sequence. If rapid and
varied activity, such as has been mentioned,
is to be recorded with any degree
of accuracy, the observer must be alert
and must use a system of shorthand.
Such a system was invented and applied.
However, it was possible to make a full
and trustworthy record of the frequencies
of all activities for only 21 of the 35
fights. In the other 14, the observer was
momentarily interrupted, or some similar
occurrence made the record incompletely
accurate with regard to detail. It
should be noted that these 14 fights did
not involve more frequent or more rapid
activity than the 21 for which complete
records were made. The following
information was accurately recorded for
all 35 fights: duration, whether or not
each activity occurred, and whether or
not each pair-mate exhibited each of the
activities. Whenever these are mentioned
hereafter in the text, data for all
35 experiments will be included. In the
tables based upon 21 fights, however, the
statistics will consistently involve only
those.
The fights varied in duration from 2
to 134.5 minutes. The mean was 51.5
minutes. Two-thirds lasted 60 minutes
or less, but there was no real modal
value (Table 6).
No correlation, direct or inverse, was
indicated between the durations of fights
and those of the periods prior to fighting.
The relative size of the pair-mates also
had no detectable effect upon the durations
of the fights. Tests for correlation
between the frequencies of challenging,
individual, mutual, and total, by one or
both pair-mates during the period prior
to fighting and the durations of the fights
also gave negative results. The same was
true when the degree of difference be-
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AGGRESSIVE BEHtAVIOR OF FEMALE BETTAS 161
tween pair-mates with regard to all types
of challenging was tested. Thus, on the
basis of these data, one could not predict
the probable duration of a fight from the
frequency of any event or combination
of events that occurred during the period
prior to fighting.
As has been stated previously, indiresponding
figures were 193, 0, and 51,
respectively (Table 7).
Mutual challenging occurred in 34 of
the 35 fights. Consequently, sixty-eight
of the seventy pair-mates exhibited this
form of behavior. The total for the 21
fights for which complete records exist
was 360. The maximum per contact pair
TABLE 6
DURATION OF FIGHTS
(TIME IN MINUTES) (35 EXPTS.)
0-15 15-30 30-45 45-60 60-75 75-90 90-105 105-120 120-35
No. of
fights...
6 10 4 3 1 3 3 1 4
TABLE 7
FREQUENCIES OF VARIOUS ACTIVITIES DURING ACTUAL FIGHTING
(Based upon 21 Fights)
EXCHANGE
CHALLENGES EXBCIHTAENS GELOCKING LCIGJW JAWS
INDI- MUTUAL JOCKEYVIDUAL
BITES TO ING FOR
Indi- Indi- Total Mul- BITES MOUTH Long POSITION
Mutual per In- Single l Brief Dura- Total
vidual dividual tiple tion
Totals for 21
expts........ 1,062 360 1,782 657 166 1,460 289 231 175 406 1,235
No. of pair-mates. 37 42 42 42 34 36 26 26 28 32 30
No. of expts...... 19 21 21 21 17 19 13 13 14 16 15
Max./indiv.... 150 58 163 75 20 121 103 65 40 105 215
Min./indiv....... O 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v/indiv.......... 25 17 42 31 8 35 14 11 8 19 59
Max./expt....... 193 58 219 75 20 181 103 65 40 105 215
Min./expt .. O 2 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
v/expt........... 51 17 85 31 8 70 14 11 8 19 59
vidual challenging continued throughout
the period of actual fighting. Both pairmates
exhibited this activity in 30 of the
35 fights. There was 1 fight in which
only one pair-mate challenged individually.
In 4 fights the activity was not
noted. In the 21 fights for which we have
a complete record of all activities, the
total number of individual challenges
was 1,062. The maximum given by one
individual was 150, the minimum 0, and
the mean 25.