Research in the Leese Lab focuses on understanding the ecological and evolutionary basis of animal behavior. Primarily using the convict cichlid fish, Amatitlania spp., as a model organism, we ask questions regarding both the proximate and ultimate causes of a wide range of behaviors. The main focus of the lab is reproductive behavior, and specifically the operation of sexual selection within monogamous systems, but other research projects have included studies of communication and signaling, learning and memory, parental care, intra-sexual aggression, territoriality, interspecific interactions, and the evolution of animal personalities.