Mate choice for a novel male phenotype in zebrafish, Danio rerio

► Female response to novel male traits may reveal how mating preferences originate. ► We use transgenic zebrafish to evaluate female preference for novel males. ► We perform four preference experiments with females differing in rearing history. ► A two-male association test protocol is used in all four experiments. ► Results reveal that females preferred transgenic males to normal males.