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Kua ZX, Hamilton IM, McLaughlin AL, Brodnik RM, Keitzer SC, Gilliland J, Hoskins EA, Ludsin SA. Water warming increases aggression in a tropical fish. Sci Rep 2020; 10:20107. [PMID: 33208894 PMCID: PMC7676273 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-76780-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Our understanding of how projected climatic warming will influence the world's biota remains largely speculative, owing to the many ways in which it can directly and indirectly affect individual phenotypes. Its impact is expected to be especially severe in the tropics, where organisms have evolved in more physically stable conditions relative to temperate ecosystems. Lake Tanganyika (eastern Africa) is one ecosystem experiencing rapid warming, yet our understanding of how its diverse assemblage of endemic species will respond is incomplete. Herein, we conducted a laboratory experiment to assess how anticipated future warming would affect the mirror-elicited aggressive behaviour of Julidochromis ornatus, a common endemic cichlid in Lake Tanganyika. Given linkages that have been established between temperature and individual behaviour in fish and other animals, we hypothesized that water warming would heighten average individual aggression. Our findings support this hypothesis, suggesting the potential for water warming to mediate behavioural phenotypic expression through negative effects associated with individual health (body condition). We ultimately discuss the implications of our findings for efforts aimed at understanding how continued climate warming will affect the ecology of Lake Tanganyika fishes and other tropical ectotherms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zi Xun Kua
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH, 43212, USA
- Department of Sustainable Resources Management, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA
| | - Ian M Hamilton
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 318 W 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
- Department of Mathematics, The Ohio State University, 318 W 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Allison L McLaughlin
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH, 43212, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Kentucky, 101 T.H. Morgan Building, Lexington, KY, 40506, USA
| | - Reed M Brodnik
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH, 43212, USA
- Chesapeake Biological Laboratory, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, 146 Williams St., Solomons, MD, 20688, USA
| | - S Conor Keitzer
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH, 43212, USA
- Department of Natural Science, Tusculum University, Greenville, TN, 37745, USA
| | - Jake Gilliland
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH, 43212, USA
- Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, 43205, USA
| | - Elizabeth A Hoskins
- Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 318 W 12th Avenue, Columbus, OH, 43210, USA
| | - Stuart A Ludsin
- Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1314 Kinnear Road, Columbus, OH, 43212, USA.
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7
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Hellmann JK, Ligocki IY, O'Connor CM, Reddon AR, Garvy KA, Marsh-Rollo SE, Gibbs HL, Balshine S, Hamilton IM. Reproductive sharing in relation to group and colony-level attributes in a cooperative breeding fish. Proc Biol Sci 2016; 282:rspb.2015.0954. [PMID: 26136450 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023] Open
Abstract
The degree to which group members share reproduction is dictated by both within-group (e.g. group size and composition) and between-group(e.g. density and position of neighbours) characteristics. While many studies have investigated reproductive patterns within social groups, few have simultaneously explored how within-group and between-group social structure influence these patterns. Here, we investigated how group size and composition, along with territory density and location within the colony, influenced parentage in 36 wild groups of a colonial, cooperatively breeding fish Neolamprologus pulcher. Dominant males sired 76% of offspring in their group, whereas dominant females mothered 82% of offspring in their group. Subordinate reproduction was frequent, occurring in 47% of sampled groups. Subordinate males gained more paternity in groups located in high-density areas and in groups with many subordinate males. Dominant males and females in large groups and in groups with many reproductively mature subordinates had higher rates of parentage loss, but only at the colony edge. Our study provides, to our knowledge,the first comprehensive quantification of reproductive sharing among groups of wild N. pulcher, a model species for the study of cooperation and social behaviour. Further, we demonstrate that the frequency of extra-pair parentage differs across small social and spatial scales.
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12
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Bruintjes R, Heg‐Bachar Z, Heg D. Subordinate removal affects parental investment, but not offspring survival in a cooperative cichlid. Funct Ecol 2013. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rick Bruintjes
- Department of Behavioural Ecology Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Hinterkappelen Switzerland
- School of Biological Sciences University of Bristol Bristol UK
| | - Zina Heg‐Bachar
- Department of Behavioural Ecology Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Hinterkappelen Switzerland
- Division of International and Environmental Health Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine Bern Switzerland
| | - Dik Heg
- Department of Behavioural Ecology Institute of Ecology and Evolution University of Bern Hinterkappelen Switzerland
- Department of Clinical Research Clinical Trials Unit Bern ISPM University of Bern Bern Switzerland
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13
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Zöttl M, Frommen JG, Taborsky M. Group size adjustment to ecological demand in a cooperative breeder. Proc Biol Sci 2013; 280:20122772. [PMID: 23390105 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2012.2772] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental factors can determine which group size will maximize the fitness of group members. This is particularly important in cooperative breeders, where group members often serve different purposes. Experimental studies are yet lacking to check whether ecologically mediated need for help will change the propensity of dominant group members to accept immigrants. Here, we manipulated the perceived risk of predation for dominant breeders of the cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Neolamprologus pulcher to test their response to unrelated and previously unknown immigrants. Potential immigrants were more readily accepted if groups were exposed to fish predators or egg predators than to herbivorous fish or control situations lacking predation risk. Our data are consistent with both risk dilution and helping effects. Egg predators were presented before spawning, which might suggest that the fish adjust acceptance rates also to a potential future threat. Dominant group members of N. pulcher apparently consider both present and future need of help based on ecological demand. This suggests that acceptance of immigrants and, more generally, tolerance of group members on demand could be a widespread response to ecological conditions in cooperatively breeding animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Markus Zöttl
- Department of Behavioural Ecology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, 3032 Hinterkappelen, Switzerland.
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