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Yi W, Reichard M, Rücklin M, Richardson MK. Parasitic fish embryos do a "front-flip" on the yolk to resist expulsion from the host. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2024; 121:e2310082121. [PMID: 38377205 PMCID: PMC10907307 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2310082121] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2023] [Accepted: 11/29/2023] [Indexed: 02/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Embryonic development is often considered shielded from the effects of natural selection, being selected primarily for reliable development. However, embryos sometimes represent virulent parasites, triggering a coevolutionary "arms race" with their host. We have examined embryonic adaptations to a parasitic lifestyle in the bitterling fish. Bitterlings are brood parasites that lay their eggs in the gill chamber of host mussels. Bitterling eggs and embryos have adaptations to resist being flushed out by the mussel. These include a pair of projections from the yolk sac that act as an anchor. Furthermore, bitterling eggs all adopt a head-down position in the mussel gills which further increases their chances of survival. To examine these adaptations in detail, we have studied development in the rosy bitterling (Rhodeus ocellatus) using molecular markers, X-ray tomography, and time-lapse imaging. We describe a suite of developmental adaptations to brood parasitism in this species. We show that the mechanism underlying these adaptions is a modified pattern of blastokinesis-a process unique, among fish, to bitterlings. Tissue movements during blastokinesis cause the embryo to do an extraordinary "front-flip" on the yolk. We suggest that this movement determines the spatial orientation of the other developmental adaptations to parasitism, ensuring that they are optimally positioned to help resist the ejection of the embryo from the mussel. Our study supports the notion that natural selection can drive the evolution of a suite of adaptations, both embryonic and extra-embryonic, via modifications in early development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjing Yi
- Institute of Biology, University of Leiden, Sylvius Laboratory, Leiden2333BE, The Netherlands
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno603 65, Czech Republic
- State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei430072, People’s Republic of China
| | - Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno603 65, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Lodz, Lodz90-237, Poland
- Faculty of Science, Department of Botany and Zoology, Masaryk University, Brno611 37, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Rücklin
- Vertebrate Evolution, Development and Ecology group, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Leiden2333 CR, The Netherlands
| | - Michael K. Richardson
- Institute of Biology, University of Leiden, Sylvius Laboratory, Leiden2333BE, The Netherlands
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2
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Reichard M, Koblmüller S, Blažek R, Zimmermann H, Katongo C, Bryjová A, Bryja J. Lack of host specialization despite selective host use in brood parasitic cuckoo catfish. Mol Ecol 2023; 32:6070-6082. [PMID: 37861460 DOI: 10.1111/mec.17173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2023] [Revised: 09/30/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 10/21/2023]
Abstract
Host-parasite dynamics involve coevolutionary arms races, which may lead to host specialization and ensuing diversification. Our general understanding of the evolution of host specialization in brood parasites is compromised by a restricted focus on bird and insect lineages. The cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) is an obligate parasite of parental care of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika. Given the ecological and taxonomic diversity of mouthbrooding cichlids in the lake, we hypothesized the existence of sympatric host-specific lineages in the cuckoo catfish. In a sample of 779 broods from 20 cichlid species, we found four species parasitized by cuckoo catfish (with prevalence of parasitism of 2%-18%). All parasitized cichlids were from the tribe Tropheini, maternal mouthbrooders that spawn over a substrate (rather than in open water). Phylogenetic analysis based on genomic (ddRAD sequencing) and mitochondrial (Dloop) data from cuckoo catfish embryos showed an absence of host-specific lineages. This was corroborated by analyses of genetic structure and co-ancestry matrix. Within host species, parasitism was not associated with any individual characteristic we recorded (parent size, water depth), but was costly as parasitized parents carried smaller clutches of their own offspring. We conclude that the cuckoo catfish is an intermediate generalist and discuss costs, benefits and constraints of host specialization in this species and brood parasites in general.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland
| | | | - Radim Blažek
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Holger Zimmermann
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Institute of Biology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Cyprian Katongo
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Zambia, Lusaka, Zambia
| | - Anna Bryjová
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Josef Bryja
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
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Zimmerman H, Tolman D, Reichard M. Low incidence of cannibalism among brood parasitic cuckoo catfish embryos. Behav Ecol 2023; 34:521-527. [PMID: 37434635 PMCID: PMC10332450 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2022] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/13/2023] Open
Abstract
Brood parasites have demanding needs of host resources. Brood parasitic offspring are highly competitive and frequently cause the failure of host broods and the survival of a single parasitic offspring. Accordingly, virulent brood parasites lay a single egg in the same host nest to avoid sibling competition. In the cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus), which parasitize mouthbrooding cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika, the modes of host and parasite oviposition lead to frequent cases of multiple parasitism. We experimentally tested the prediction that multiple parasitism leads to frequent cannibalism among offspring. Cuckoo catfish embryos prey upon host offspring to obtain nourishment during their 3-week development in the host buccal cavity and may also consume conspecific embryos. The potential benefits of cannibalism in the system are, therefore, twofold; to decrease competition for limited resources (i.e., host brood with rich yolk sacs) and to directly obtain nourishment by consuming rivals. We found that cannibalism indeed provided measurable benefits in terms of increased growth of the cannibals, but cannibalism was rare and typically occurred once all host offspring had been consumed. This implies that cannibalism among cuckoo catfish embryos emerges to mitigate starvation rather than eliminate competition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Holger Zimmerman
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 00, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Deryk Tolman
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 00, Brno, Czech Republic
- Helsinki Institute of Life Sciences, University of Helsinki, Yliopistonkatu 3, 00014 Helsinki, Finland
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Blažek R, Polačik M, Reichard M. Group intrusions by a brood parasitic fish are not cooperative. Behav Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab123] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
Brood parasites relegate all parental duties to unrelated hosts. Host resistance against brood parasitism is most effective during egg laying and is best countered by surreptitious oviposition. This may be aided through distraction of host attention by the male partner or a larger cooperative group. Cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) parasitize the broods of mouthbrooding cichlids, which collect their eggs immediately after oviposition. Cuckoo catfish must time their intrusion precisely, as the temporal window for parasitism lasts only a few seconds. As the cuckoo catfish typically intrude host spawning as a group, we tested whether groups of catfish distract spawning cichlid pairs more successfully than a single catfish pair. We found that larger catfish groups were not more effective in parasitism, as parasitism success by groups of three catfish pairs increased only proportionally to single catfish pairs. The number of cichlid eggs in host clutches decreased at high catfish abundance, apparently due to elevated cuckoo catfish predation on the eggs. Hence, group intrusions do not represent cooperative actions, but incur an increased cost to the host cichlid from greater egg predation by cuckoo catfish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radim Blažek
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Matěj Polačik
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Łódź, Banacha 12/16, 90-237 Łódź, Poland
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Alloparental care in glassfrogs: males care for unrelated clutches only when associated with their own. Sci Rep 2021; 11:1386. [PMID: 33446869 PMCID: PMC7809452 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-80771-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 12/28/2020] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Parental care is costly, thus theory predicts that parents should avoid caring for unrelated offspring. However, alloparenting has been reported in many taxa because it may increase the caregiver mating success or offspring survival. We experimentally investigated the existence of allopaternal care in two glassfrog species, Hyalinobatrachium chirripoi and Centrolene peristicta, and discussed possible costs and benefits. Males mated with multiple females and cared for clutches, while continued to call. In the field, we randomly placed unrelated clutches in the territory of males already caring for their clutches and in the territory of non-attending males. Attending males adopted unrelated clutches, whereas non-attending males abandoned their territories. Once males adopted unrelated offspring, they cared for all clutches in a similar frequency and gained new clutches. Alloparenting was context-dependent, as only males already caring for their clutches adopted unrelated ones. We suggest that steroid hormonal levels might mediate the adoption of unrelated offspring by attending males. Additionally, our results suggest that males do not directly discriminate between related and unrelated offspring. Alloparenting has been widely investigated in different vertebrates, except for amphibians. Thus, our study sheds light on the roles of alloparenting for offspring survival and mating success in this group.
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Abstract
Martin Reichard introduces the cuckoo catfish, the only obligatory brood parasite among vertebrates that is not a bird.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Květná 8, Brno, Czech Republic.
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Takahashi T, Koblmüller S. Brood parasitism of an open-water spawning cichlid by the cuckoo catfish. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2020; 96:1538-1542. [PMID: 32297313 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
The cuckoo catfish Synodontis multipunctatus and S. grandiops are endemic to Lake Tanganyika and the only known nonavian vertebrates that exhibit obligate interspecific brood parasitism. Seven maternal mouth-brooding cichlid fish species are reported to be natural hosts of the parasitic catfish and share a common reproductive behaviour that the catfish exploits: cichlid females spawn eggs on the bottom, allowing the catfish female to place her eggs near the cichlid eggs, and the cichlid females collect the catfish eggs by mouth together with their own eggs. However, so far it has not been reported that the cuckoo catfish exploit different spawning behaviours. The genus Cyprichromis consists of five maternal mouth-brooding species endemic to Lake Tanganyika, most of which spawn and collect eggs in open water. This study reports that the cuckoo catfish also parasitizes the open-water spawning Cyprichromis coloratus, although it may not be a regular host.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tetsumi Takahashi
- Institute of Natural and Environmental Sciences, University of Hyogo, Sanda, Japan
- Division of Nature and Environmental Management, Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Sanda, Japan
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Cotter SC, Pincheira-Donoso D, Thorogood R. Defences against brood parasites from a social immunity perspective. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180207. [PMID: 30967090 PMCID: PMC6388036 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0207] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/07/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasitic interactions are so ubiquitous that all multicellular organisms have evolved a system of defences to reduce their costs, whether the parasites they encounter are the classic parasites which feed on the individual, or brood parasites which usurp parental care. Many parallels have been drawn between defences deployed against both types of parasite, but typically, while defences against classic parasites have been selected to protect survival, those against brood parasites have been selected to protect the parent's inclusive fitness, suggesting that the selection pressures they impose are fundamentally different. However, there is another class of defences against classic parasites that have specifically been selected to protect an individual's inclusive fitness, known as social immunity. Social immune responses include the anti-parasite defences typically provided for others in kin-structured groups, such as the antifungal secretions produced by termite workers to protect the brood. Defences against brood parasites, therefore, are more closely aligned with social immune responses. Much like social immunity, host defences against brood parasitism are employed by a donor (a parent) for the benefit of one or more recipients (typically kin), and as with social defences against classic parasites, defences have therefore evolved to protect the donor's inclusive fitness, not the survival or ultimately the fitness of individual recipients This can lead to severe conflicts between the different parties, whose interests are not always aligned. Here, we consider defences against brood parasitism in the light of social immunity, at different stages of parasite encounter, addressing where conflicts occur and how they might be resolved. We finish with considering how this approach could help us to address longstanding questions in our understanding of brood parasitism. This article is part of the theme issue 'The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern'.
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Affiliation(s)
- S. C. Cotter
- School of Life Sciences, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool, Lincoln, Lincolnshire LN6 7TS, UK
| | - D. Pincheira-Donoso
- Department of Biosciences, Nottingham Trent University, Clifton Campus, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire NG1 8NS, UK
| | - R. Thorogood
- Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Research Programme in Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biological & Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
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Thorogood R, Spottiswoode CN, Portugal SJ, Gloag R. The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: a call for integration. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180190. [PMID: 30967086 PMCID: PMC6388032 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0190] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/14/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Obligate brood-parasitic cheats have fascinated natural historians since ancient times. Passing on the costs of parental care to others occurs widely in birds, insects and fish, and often exerts selection pressure on hosts that in turn evolve defences. Brood parasites have therefore provided an illuminating system for researching coevolution. Nevertheless, much remains unknown about how ecology and evolutionary history constrain or facilitate brood parasitism, or the mechanisms that shape or respond to selection. In this special issue, we bring together examples from across the animal kingdom to illustrate the diverse ways in which recent research is addressing these gaps. This special issue also considers how research on brood parasitism may benefit from, and in turn inform, related fields such as social evolution and immunity. Here, we argue that progress in our understanding of coevolution would benefit from the increased integration of ideas across taxonomic boundaries and across Tinbergen's Four Questions: mechanism, ontogeny, function and phylogeny of brood parasitism. We also encourage renewed vigour in uncovering the natural history of the majority of the world's brood parasites that remain little-known. Indeed, it seems very likely that some of nature's brood parasites remain entirely unknown, because otherwise we are left with a puzzle: if parental care is so costly, why is brood parasitism not more common? This article is part of the theme issue 'The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rose Thorogood
- Helsinki Institute of Life Science, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland
- Research Program in Organismal and Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki 00014, Finland
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
| | - Claire N. Spottiswoode
- Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
- FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
| | - Steven J. Portugal
- School of Biological Sciences, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham, Surrey TW20 0EX, UK
| | - Ros Gloag
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney 2006, Australia
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Polačik M, Reichard M, Smith C, Blažek R. Parasitic cuckoo catfish exploit parental responses to stray offspring. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 374:20180412. [PMID: 30967084 PMCID: PMC6388028 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Interspecific brood parasitism occurs in several independent lineages of birds and social insects, putatively evolving from intraspecific brood parasitism. The cuckoo catfish, Synodontis multipunctatus, the only known obligatory non-avian brood parasite, exploits mouthbrooding cichlid fishes in Lake Tanganyika, despite the absence of parental care in its evolutionary lineage (family Mochokidae). Cuckoo catfish participate in host spawning events, with their eggs subsequently collected and brooded by parental cichlids, though they can later be selectively rejected by the host. One scenario for the origin of brood parasitism in cuckoo catfish is through predation of cichlid eggs during spawning, eventually resulting in a spatial and temporal match in oviposition by host and parasite. Here we demonstrate experimentally that, uniquely among all known brood parasites, cuckoo catfish have the capacity to re-infect their hosts at a late developmental stage following egg rejection. We show that cuckoo catfish offspring can survive outside the host buccal cavity and re-infect parental hosts at a later incubation phase by exploiting the strong parental instinct of hosts to collect stray offspring. This finding implies an alternative evolutionary origin for cuckoo catfish brood parasitism, with the parental response of host cichlids facilitating its evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'The coevolutionary biology of brood parasitism: from mechanism to pattern'.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Polačik
- The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - M. Reichard
- The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
| | - C. Smith
- The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Łódź, Łódź, Poland
- School of Biology and Bell-Pettigrew Museum of Natural History, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TS, UK
| | - R. Blažek
- The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
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