1
|
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.
Collapse
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
| | - Martin Reichard
- Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 00, Brno, Czech Republic
- Department of Ecology and Vertebrate Zoology, University of Łódź, 12/16 Banacha street, 90-237 Łódź, Poland
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Kotlářská 2, 611 37, Brno, Czech Republic
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Honza M, Koleček J, Piálek L, Piálková R, Požgayová M, Procházka P, Štětková G, Jelínek V, Hughes AE, Šulc M. Multiple parasitism in an evictor brood parasite: patterns revealed by long-term monitoring, continuous video recording, and genetic analyses. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03270-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
|
3
|
Marton A. Quintuple parasitism of a great reed warbler nest by common cuckoos. Ecol Evol 2021; 11:8420-8423. [PMID: 34257907 PMCID: PMC8258190 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2021] [Revised: 04/24/2021] [Accepted: 04/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Multiple parasitism in obligate avian brood parasites occurs when several brood parasitic females lay their eggs in the nest of the same host. While multiple parasitism is common in the highly social, nonevicting cowbird species (Molothrus sp.), in which multiple parasitic nestlings can be raised simultaneously by the same hosts, it is less common in the case of cuckoo species (Cuculus sp.). The first cuckoo nestling to hatch from the egg evicts all nestmates; therefore, it is costly for cuckoo females to lay eggs in already parasitized nests. However, this can occur in sites with very high parasitism rates, and it can even increase the breeding success of the brood parasites, as the presence of multiple parasitic eggs in the nest of the host decreases rejection rates. Here, we present a case of a quintuple brood parasitism of a great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) nest, an extreme form of multiple brood parasitism.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Attila Marton
- Department of Evolutionary Zoology and Human BiologyUniversity of DebrecenDebrecenHungary
- Juhász‐Nagy Pál Doctoral SchoolUniversity of DebrecenDebrecenHungary
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Pollock HS, Hoover JP, Uy FMK, Hauber ME. Brood Parasites Are a Heterogeneous and Functionally Distinct Class of Natural Enemies. Trends Parasitol 2021; 37:588-596. [PMID: 33685784 DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2021.02.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2020] [Revised: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 02/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Brood parasitism is the introduction of unrelated progeny into the nest or colony of a host that then raises the foreign young. This reproductive strategy has evolved independently and repeatedly among diverse animal taxa, and brood parasite-host interactions have become models for understanding coevolutionary arms races. Yet brood parasites have remained largely overlooked in previous syntheses of natural enemy ecology. Here, we argue that brood parasites are a heterogeneous and versatile class of natural enemies, blending traits characteristic of predators and trophic parasites. The functional distinctness of brood parasites reinforces the idea that natural enemies exist along a continuum rather than as a dichotomy. Brood parasite-host interactions can serve as valuable case studies to unify parasite-host and predator-prey theories.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Henry S Pollock
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
| | - Jeffrey P Hoover
- Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 E. Peabody Dr., MC-650, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
| | - Floria M K Uy
- Department of Biology, University of Rochester, 402 Hutchison Hall, P.O. Box 270211, Rochester, NY 14627, USA
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 515 Morrill Hall, 505 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801, USA; Illinois Natural History Survey, Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 615 E. Peabody Dr., MC-650, Champaign, IL 61820, USA
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Ursino CA, Strong MJ, Reboreda JC, Riehl C. Genetic patterns of repeat and multiple parasitism by screaming cowbirds, a specialist brood parasite. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.07.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
6
|
de la Colina MA, Hauber ME, Strausberger BM, Reboreda JC, Mahler B. Molecular tracking of individual host use in the Shiny Cowbird - a generalist brood parasite. Ecol Evol 2016; 6:4684-96. [PMID: 27547305 PMCID: PMC4979699 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.2234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2015] [Revised: 05/13/2016] [Accepted: 05/16/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Abstract
Generalist parasites exploit multiple host species at the population level, but the individual parasite's strategy may be either itself a generalist or a specialist pattern of host species use. Here, we studied the relationship between host availability and host use in the individual parasitism patterns of the Shiny Cowbird Molothrus bonariensis, a generalist avian obligate brood parasite that parasitizes an extreme range of hosts. Using five microsatellite markers and an 1120-bp fragment of the mtDNA control region, we reconstructed full-sibling groups from 359 cowbird eggs and chicks found in nests of the two most frequent hosts in our study area, the Chalk-browed Mockingbird Mimus saturninus and the House Wren Troglodytes aedon. We were able to infer the laying behavior of 17 different females a posteriori and found that they were mostly faithful to a particular laying area and host species along the entire reproductive season and did not avoid using previously parasitized nests (multiple parasitism) even when other nests were available for parasitism. Moreover, we found females using the same host nest more than once (repeated parasitism), which had not been previously reported for this species. We also found few females parasitizing more than one host species. The use of an alternative host was not related to the main hosts' nest availability. Overall, female shiny cowbirds use a spatially structured and host species specific approach for parasitism, but they do so nonexclusively, resulting in both detectable levels of multiple parasitism and generalism at the level of individual parasites.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ma Alicia de la Colina
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Mark E Hauber
- Department of Psychology Hunter College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York 695 Park Avenue New York New York 10065; School of Biological Sciences University of Auckland 3A Symonds Street PB 92019 Auckland New Zealand
| | - Bill M Strausberger
- Pritzker Laboratory for Molecular Systematics and Evolution Field Museum of Natural History 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive Chicago Illinois 60605
| | - Juan Carlos Reboreda
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
| | - Bettina Mahler
- Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, and IEGEBA-CONICET Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales Universidad de Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Argentina
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Janecka MJ, Brush T. Differential response by bronzed cowbirds to songs of potential hosts in the lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas. SOUTHWEST NAT 2014. [DOI: 10.1894/ekl-03.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
|
8
|
Shiny cowbirds share foster mothers but not true mothers in multiply parasitized mockingbird nests. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2014. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-014-1682-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
|
9
|
Rivers JW, Blundell MA, Loughin TM, Peer BD, Rothstein SI. The exaggerated begging behaviour of an obligate avian brood parasite is shared with a nonparasitic close relative. Anim Behav 2013. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.06.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
|