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Liedtke HC, Lopez-Hervas K, Galván I, Polo-Cavia N, Gomez-Mestre I. Background matching through fast and reversible melanin-based pigmentation plasticity in tadpoles comes with morphological and antioxidant changes. Sci Rep 2023; 13:12064. [PMID: 37495600 PMCID: PMC10371988 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-39107-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/20/2023] [Indexed: 07/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Facultative colour change is widespread in the animal kingdom, and has been documented in many distantly related amphibians. However, experimental data testing the extent of facultative colour change, and associated physiological and morphological implications are comparatively scarce. Background matching in the face of spatial and temporal environmental variation is thought to be an important proximate function of colour change in aquatic amphibian larvae. This is particularly relevant for species with long larval periods such as the western spadefoot toad, Pelobates cultripes, whose tadpoles spend up to six months developing in temporary waterbodies with temporally variable vegetation. By rearing tadpoles on different coloured backgrounds, we show that P. cultripes larvae can regulate pigmentation to track fine-grained differences in background brightness, but not hue or saturation. We found that colour change is rapid, reversible, and primarily achieved through changes in the quantity of eumelanin in the skin. We show that this increased eumelanin production and/or maintenance is also correlated with changes in morphology and oxidative stress, with more pigmented tadpoles growing larger tail fins and having an improved redox status.
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Affiliation(s)
- H Christoph Liedtke
- Ecology Evolution and Development Group. Biological Station of Doñana - CSIC, 41092, Seville, Spain.
| | - Karem Lopez-Hervas
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, August-Thienemann Str. 2, 24306, Plön, Germany
| | - Ismael Galván
- Department of Evolutionary Ecology, National Museum of Natural Sciences, CSIC, 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Nuria Polo-Cavia
- Department of Biology, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ivan Gomez-Mestre
- Ecology Evolution and Development Group. Biological Station of Doñana - CSIC, 41092, Seville, Spain
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de Souza YCM, Annibale FS, Carvalheiro LG, Vasconcelos TS, Rossa-Feres DC. Differential behavioral responses of benthic and nektonic tadpoles to predation at varying water depths. CAN J ZOOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1139/cjz-2021-0236] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Predators influence microhabitat selection and activity level of tadpoles, but it is still unclear how such responses to predators differ among species and how water column's depth influences this predator-prey interaction. Here, we experimentally tested whether the presence of Odonata water-nymphs influenced spatial use and activity of benthic and nektonic tadpoles in different food availability contexts. Benthic tadpoles occupied and consumed more food at the bottom level, irrespective of predator’s presence. However, when predators were at bottom, benthic tadpoles remained close to the cages, suggesting a typical “stay-still” defensive behavior known for Physalaemus nattereri (Steindachner, 1863). Nektonic tadpoles occupied shallower depths on predator's presence, and they also consumed less food and avoided predator by selecting food sources far from it. When predator was at bottom level and food was available, the distance of tadpoles to the cage tended to be smaller. Scinax fuscovarius (Lutz, 1925) tadpoles were more active when food was absent regardless of predator’s presence. When food was available, these tadpoles generally occupied and consumed more food at bottom level. Tadpoles’ responses depended not only on predator’s presence, but on a complex net of factors, which include tadpoles’ habit, anti-predatory behavior, availability and location of food.
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Melo GR, Solé M, Eterovick PC. Invisible or fearless: tadpole response to predator cues depends on color. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2021. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2020.1830859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela R. Melo
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna km 16, Ilhéus, Bahia CEP 45662-900, Brazil
| | - Mirco Solé
- Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Zoologia, Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz, Rodovia Ilhéus-Itabuna km 16, Ilhéus, Bahia CEP 45662-900, Brazil
- Herpetology Section, Zoologisches Forschungsmuseum Alexander Koenig, Adenauerallee 160, Bonn D-53113, Germany
| | - Paula C. Eterovick
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia de Vertebrados, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais, 30535-610 Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil
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Detectability is in the eye of the beholder—the role of UV reflectance on tadpole detection and predation by a passerine bird. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-021-02983-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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Bu R, Xiao F, Lovell PG, Ye Z, Shi H. Structural and colored disruption as camouflage strategies in two sympatric Asian box turtle species (Cuora spp.). Glob Ecol Conserv 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01361] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
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Background choice and immobility as context dependent tadpole responses to perceived predation risk. Sci Rep 2020; 10:13577. [PMID: 32782286 PMCID: PMC7419541 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-70274-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The association of immobility and camouflage is widespread as a defensive mechanism in prey from varied taxa. However, many experiments assessing the reaction of prey to predator cues are conducted under artificial laboratory conditions. In a previous experiment we observed the tadpoles of Ololygon machadoi (Hylidae) to respond to predator visual and/or chemical cues by choosing backgrounds that improve their disruptive properties, but detected no associated reduction of movement. Here we experimentally demonstrate this response in the species' natural habitat, on backgrounds where the tadpoles are likely to achieve their best camouflage. We also tested whether previous experiences could influence both background choice and immobility in O. machadoi tadpoles. These novel experimental results suggest that a defensive behavior—i.e., reduction of movement—in these tadpoles is more strongly expressed under the natural conditions where they evolved, compared to laboratory conditions where prey and predator were brought into closer contact. Besides, previous experiences are likely to play an important role in expressed defensive responses.
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Elias MAM, Anker A, Gawryszewski FM. Microhabitat use and body size drive the evolution of colour patterns in snapping shrimps (Decapoda: Alpheidae: Alpheus). Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blz152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Background matching and disruptive coloration are common strategies used by animals to increase concealment, whereas motion-dazzle may prevent capture after recognition. Studies have related background matching to habitat dependency and survival success, whereas for animals with highly contrasting patterns it has been shown that they are able to explore a broader range of habitats due to disruptive coloration, and possibly via motion-dazzle. However, the effects of these strategies are likely to be influenced by body size and to work better for smaller species. We applied phylogenetic comparative methods to test the hypothesis that smaller snapping shrimps (genus Alpheus) with high-contrast stripes would be able to utilize more microhabitats than non-striped and larger species. We used a published phylogeny of the American species of Alpheus, studies that have described alpheid microhabitats and size, and high-resolution photographs of each species in the phylogeny. Our categorical analysis suggested that generalist snapping shrimps are more likely to have stripes than specialist shrimps, and this effect was stronger in smaller species. Similarly, we found an interacting effect of body size and habitat use on the degree of luminance contrast: smaller generalist species had higher contrast values than average-sized and habitat-specialist species. Therefore, predators, body size and frequency of microhabitats are likely to have influenced the evolution of colour patterns in Alpheus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco A M Elias
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Avenida Esperança, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Arthur Anker
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Goiás, Avenida Esperança, Campus Samambaia, Goiânia, Goiás, Brazil
| | - Felipe M Gawryszewski
- Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade de Brasília, Asa Norte, Campus Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil
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Bertolesi GE, Zhang JZ, McFarlane S. Plasticity for colour adaptation in vertebrates explained by the evolution of the genes pomc, pmch and pmchl. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res 2019; 32:510-527. [PMID: 30791235 PMCID: PMC7167667 DOI: 10.1111/pcmr.12776] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/18/2018] [Revised: 01/27/2019] [Accepted: 02/16/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Different camouflages work best with some background matching colour. Our understanding of the evolution of skin colour is based mainly on the genetics of pigmentation ("background matching"), with little known about the evolution of the neuroendocrine systems that facilitate "background adaptation" through colour phenotypic plasticity. To address the latter, we studied the evolution in vertebrates of three genes, pomc, pmch and pmchl, that code for α-MSH and two melanin-concentrating hormones (MCH and MCHL). These hormones induce either dispersion/aggregation or the synthesis of pigments. We find that α-MSH is highly conserved during evolution, as is its role in dispersing/synthesizing pigments. Also conserved is the three-exon pmch gene that encodes MCH, which participates in feeding behaviours. In contrast, pmchl (known previously as pmch), is a teleost-specific intron-less gene. Our data indicate that in zebrafish, pmchl-expressing neurons extend axons to the pituitary, supportive of an MCHL hormonal role, whereas zebrafish and Xenopus pmch+ neurons send axons dorsally in the brain. The evolution of these genes and acquisition of hormonal status for MCHL explain different mechanisms used by vertebrates to background-adapt.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel E Bertolesi
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - John Zhijia Zhang
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
| | - Sarah McFarlane
- Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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Stevens M, Ruxton GD. The key role of behaviour in animal camouflage. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:116-134. [PMID: 29927061 PMCID: PMC6378595 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2018] [Revised: 05/25/2018] [Accepted: 05/31/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Animal camouflage represents one of the most important ways of preventing (or facilitating) predation. It attracted the attention of the earliest evolutionary biologists, and today remains a focus of investigation in areas ranging from evolutionary ecology, animal decision-making, optimal strategies, visual psychology, computer science, to materials science. Most work focuses on the role of animal morphology per se, and its interactions with the background in affecting detection and recognition. However, the behaviour of organisms is likely to be crucial in affecting camouflage too, through background choice, body orientation and positioning; and strategies of camouflage that require movement. A wealth of potential mechanisms may affect such behaviours, from imprinting and self-assessment to genetics, and operate at several levels (species, morph, and individual). Over many years there have been numerous studies investigating the role of behaviour in camouflage, but to date, no effort to synthesise these studies and ideas into a coherent framework. Here, we review key work on behaviour and camouflage, highlight the mechanisms involved and implications of behaviour, discuss the importance of this in a changing world, and offer suggestions for addressing the many important gaps in our understanding of this subject.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Stevens
- Centre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental SciencesUniversity of Exeter, Penryn CampusPenryn, TR10 9FEU.K.
| | - Graeme D. Ruxton
- School of BiologyUniversity of St AndrewsSt Andrews, KY16 9THU.K.
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