Evolution of male care is still poorly understood. Using phylogeneticallymatched-pairs comparisons we tested for effects of territoriality and matingsystem on male care evolution in fish. All origins of male care were found inpair-spawning species (with or without additional males such as sneakers) andnone were found in group-spawning species. However, excluding groupspawners, male care originated equally often in pair-spawning species withadditional males as in strict pair-spawning species. Evolution of male care wasalso significantly related to territoriality. Yet, most pair-spawning taxa withmale care are also territorial, making their relative influence difficult toseparate. Furthermore, territoriality also occurs in group-spawning species.Hence, territoriality is not sufficient for male care to evolve. Rather, we arguethat it is the combination of territoriality and pair spawning with sequentialpolygyny that favours the evolution of male care, and we discuss our results inrelation to paternity assurance and sexual selection.