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Baer J, Gugele SM, Bretzel J, DeWeber JT, Brinker A. All day-long: Sticklebacks effectively forage on whitefish eggs during all light conditions. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0255497. [PMID: 34339467 PMCID: PMC8328295 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255497] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Accepted: 07/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus invaded Lake Contance in the 1940s and expanded in large numbers from an exclusively shoreline habitat into the pelagic zone in 2012. Stickleback abundance is very high in the pelagic zone in winter near the spawning time of pelagic whitefish Coregonus wartmanni, and it is hypothesized that this is triggered by the opportunity to consume whitefish eggs. Field sampling has qualitatively confirmed predation of whitefish eggs by stickleback, but quantification has proven difficult due to stormy conditions that limit sampling. One fundamental unknown is if freshwater stickleback, known as visual feeders, can successfully find and eat whitefish eggs during twilight and night when whitefish spawn. It is also unknown how long eggs can be identified in stomachs following ingestion, which could limit efforts to quantify egg predation through stomach content analysis. To answer these questions, 144 individuals were given the opportunity to feed on whitefish roe under daylight, twilight, and darkness in controlled conditions. The results showed that stickleback can ingest as many as 100 whitefish eggs under any light conditions, and some individuals even consumed maximum numbers in complete darkness. Furthermore, eggs could be unambiguously identified in the stomach 24 hours after consumption. Whitefish eggs have 28% more energy content than the main diet of sticklebacks (zooplankton) based on bomb-calorimetric measurements, underlining the potential benefits of consuming eggs. Based on experimental results and estimates of stickleback abundance and total egg production, stickleback could potentially consume substantial proportions of the total eggs produced even if relatively few sticklebacks consume eggs. Given the evidence that stickleback can feed on eggs during nighttime spawning and may thereby hamper recruitment, future studies aimed at quantifying actual egg predation and resulting effects on the whitefish population are urgently needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Baer
- Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Langenargen, Germany
| | - Sarah Maria Gugele
- Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Langenargen, Germany
- Institute for Limnology, University of Constance, Konstanz, Germany
| | - Joachim Bretzel
- Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Langenargen, Germany
| | | | - Alexander Brinker
- Fisheries Research Station Baden-Württemberg, Langenargen, Germany
- Institute for Limnology, University of Constance, Konstanz, Germany
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Perry SF, Gilmour KM, Duarte RM, Wood CM, Almeida-Val VMF, Val AL. The effects of dissolved organic carbon on the reflex ventilatory responses of the neotropical teleost (Colossoma macropomum) to hypoxia or hypercapnia. CHEMOSPHERE 2021; 277:130314. [PMID: 34384180 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.130314] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Revised: 03/10/2021] [Accepted: 03/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum), migrates annually between whitewater and blackwater rivers of the Amazon. Unlike the whitewater, blackwater is characterized by higher levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC), including humic acids (HA). Because humic substances impair sensory processes, the current study tested the hypothesis that O2 and/or CO2 chemoreception is impeded in blackwater owing to the presence of HA. Thus, the ventilatory responses of tambaqui to hypoxia or hypercapnia were assessed in well water transported from Manaus, local blackwater, and in well water containing HA either extracted from Rio Negro water or obtained commercially (Sigma Aldrich; SA). In well water, tambaqui exhibited typical hyperventilatory responses to hypoxia or hypercapnia. These responses were prevented by simultaneously exposing fish to SA HA (20 mg l-1). The negative effects of SA HA on ventilation were prevented when natural DOC (30 mg l-1; extracted from Rio Negro water after first removing the endogenous HA fraction) was added concurrently, indicating a protective effect of this non-humic acid DOC fraction. The hyperventilatory responses were unaffected during acute exposure or after acclimation of fish to Rio Negro water. HA extracted from Rio Negro water did not impair the hyperventilatory responses to hypoxia or hypercapnia. This study, while demonstrating a negative effect of SA HA derived from peat (coal) on the control of breathing in tambaqui, failed to reveal any detrimental consequences of HA (derived from the decomposition of a variety of lignin-rich plants) naturally occurring in the blackwaters of the Rio Negro.
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Affiliation(s)
- Steve F Perry
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
| | - Kathleen M Gilmour
- Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada
| | - Rafael M Duarte
- Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Molecular Evolution, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil; Biosciences Institute, São Paulo State University - UNESP, Coastal Campus, São Vicente, SP, Brazil
| | - Chris M Wood
- Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Molecular Evolution, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil; Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Biology, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4K1, Canada
| | - Vera M F Almeida-Val
- Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Molecular Evolution, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
| | - Adalberto L Val
- Laboratory of Ecophysiology and Molecular Evolution, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Brazil
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Mobley RB, Boughman JW. Variation in the Sensory Space of Three-spined Stickleback Populations. Integr Comp Biol 2020; 61:50-61. [PMID: 33382869 DOI: 10.1093/icb/icaa145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
The peripheral sensory systems, whose morphological attributes help determine the acquisition of distinct types of information, provide a means to quantitatively compare multiple modalities of a species' sensory ecology. We used morphological metrics to characterize multiple sensory modalities-the visual, olfactory, and mechanosensory lateral line sensory systems-for Gasterosteus aculeatus, the three-spined stickleback, to compare how sensory systems vary in animals that evolve in different ecological conditions. We hypothesized that the dimensions of sensory organs and correlations among sensory systems vary in populations adapted to marine and freshwater environments, and have diverged further among freshwater lake-dwelling populations. Our results showed that among environments, fish differed in which senses are relatively elaborated or reduced. When controlling for body length, littoral fish had larger eyes, more neuromasts, and smaller olfactory tissue area than pelagic or marine populations. We also found differences in the direction and magnitude of correlations among sensory systems for populations even within the same habitat type. Our data suggest that populations take different trajectories in how visual, olfactory, and lateral line systems respond to their environment. For the populations we studied, sensory modalities do not conform in a predictable way to the ecological categories we assigned.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert B Mobley
- Department of Integrative Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, BEACON, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
| | - Janette W Boughman
- Department of Integrative Biology, Ecology, Evolutionary Biology and Behavior, BEACON, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA
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