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528 results for “killifish”

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dryad36/100

Variation in developmental rates is not linked to environmental unpredictability in annual killifishes

Comparative evidence suggests that adaptive plasticity may evolve as a response to predictable environmental variation. However, less attention has been placed on unpredictable environmental variation, which is considered to affect evolutionary trajectories by increasing phenotypic variation (or bet-hedging). Here, we examine the occurrence of bet-hedging in egg developmental rates in seven species of annual killifish that originate from a gradient of variation in precipitation rates, under three treatment incubation temperatures (21°C, 23°C, and 25°C). In the wild, these species survive regular and seasonal habitat desiccation, as dormant eggs buried in the soil. At the onset of the rainy season embryos must be sufficiently developed in order to hatch and complete their life-cycle. We found substantial differences among species in both the mean and variation of egg development rates, as well as species-specific plastic responses to incubation temperature. Yet, there was no clear relationship between variation in egg development time and variation in precipitation rate (environmental predictability). The exact cause of these differences therefore remains enigmatic, possibly depending on differences in other natural environmental conditions in addition to precipitation predictability. Hence, if species-specific variances are adaptive, the relationship between development and variation in precipitation is complex and does not diverge in accordance with simple linear relationships.

opencc-zeroApr 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Data for Patterns and drivers of Nothobranchius killifish diversity in lowland Tanzania

Temporary pools are seasonal wetland habitats with specifically adapted biota, including annual Nothobranchiuskillifishes that survive habitat desiccation as diapausing eggs encased in dry sediment. To understand the patterns in the structure of Nothobranchius assemblages and their potential in wetland conservation, we compared biodiversity components (alpha, beta, gamma) between regions and estimated the role and sources of nestedness and turnover on their diversity. We sampled Nothobranchius assemblages from 127 pools across seven local regions in lowland Eastern Tanzania over two years, using dip net and seine nets. We estimated species composition and richness for each pool, and beta and gamma diversity for each region. We decomposed beta diversity to nestedness and turnover components. We tested nestedness in three main regions (Ruvu, Rufiji, Mbezi) using the number of decreasing fills metric and compared the roles of pool area, isolation and altitude on nestedness. A total of 15 species formed assemblages containing 1-6 species. Most Nothobranchius species were endemic to one or two adjacent regions. Regional diversity was highest in the Ruvu, Rufiji and Mbezi regions. Nestedness was significant in Ruvu and Rufiji, with shared core (N. melanospilus, N. eggersi, N. janpapi) and common (N. ocellatus, N. annectens) species, and distinctive rare species. Nestedness apparently resulted from selective colonization rather than selective extinction and local species richness was negatively associated with altitude. The Nothobranchius assemblages in the Mbezi region were not nested, had many endemic species and the highest beta diversity driven by species turnover. Overall, we found unexpected local variation in the sources of beta diversity (nestedness, turnover) within the study area. The Mbezi region contained the highest diversity and many endemic species, apparently due to repeated colonisations of the region rather than local diversification. We suggest that annual killifish can serve as a flagship taxon for small wetland conservation.

opencc-zeroMay 2022View details →

zenodo36/100

Above: roe-filled adult female Cynolebias bellottii. in Cynolebias alexandri, a new species of annual killifish from Argentina, with notes on C. bellottii

Above: roe-filled adult female Cynolebias bellottii.

opencc-by-4.0Aug 1974View details →

zenodo36/100

Expression quantification from the killifish, Fundulus rathbuni (gill epithelium)

Files created with the salmon quantification tool using the reference de novo transcriptome assembly from the killifish, Fundulus rathbuni. Fish were acclimated to either brackish or fresh water then exposed to an acute brackish water challenge. Transcriptome data from gill epithelium tissue were collected. A reference transcriptome assembly was generated from all individuals then used to analyze transcriptional responses to salinity.

opencc-by-4.0Nov 2018View details →

zenodo36/100

Life in the fastlane? A comparative analysis of gene expression profiles across annual, semi-annual, and non-annual killifishes (Cyprinodontiformes: Nothobranchiidae)

<ol> <li>Read Counts per gene</li> <li>All read counts by inidividual and species</li> <li>Species abbreviations key</li> <li>R script for data analyses</li> </ol>

opencc-by-4.0Aug 2024View details →

zenodo36/100

Image 2 in Discovery of the Critically Endangered annual killifish Austrolebias wolterstorffi (Ahl, 1924) (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae) in Lagoa do Peixe National Park, Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil

Image 2. Occurence site of Austrolebias wolterstorffi in Lagoa do Peixe National Park.

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2010View details →

dryad36/100

Fast life-histories are associated with larger brain size in killifishes

The high energetic demands associated with the vertebrate brain are proposed to result in a trade-off between the pace of life-history and relative brain size. However, because both life-history and brain size also have a strong relationship with body size, any associations between the pace of life-history and relative brain size may be confounded by coevolution with body size. Studies on systems where contrasts in the pace of life-history occur without concordant contrasts in body size could therefore add to our understanding of the potential coevolution between relative brain size and life-history. Using one such system - 21 species of killifish - we employed a common garden design across two ontogenetic stages to investigate the association between relative brain size and the pace of life-history. Contrary to predictions, we found that relative brain size was larger in adult fast-living killifishes, compared to slow-living species. Although we found no differences in relative brain size between juvenile killifishes. Our results suggest that fast- and slow-living killifishes do not exhibit the predicted trade-off between brain size and life-history. Instead, fast and slow-living killifishes could differ in the ontogenetic timing of somatic vs. neural growth or inhabit environments that differ considerably in cognitive demands.

opencc-zeroDec 2020View details →

zenodo36/100

Fig. 1 in Rivulus kirovskyi, a new killifish from the central Amazon, Brazil (Cyprinodontiformes: Rivulidae)

Fig. 1. Rivulus kirovskyi, holotype, UFRJ 5935, male, 20.3 mm SL; Brazil: Amazonas: Manaus.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2004View details →

dryad36/100

Sex differences in killifish

Males often experience shorter lifespans than females. Despite extensive research, it is poorly understood how lifespan differences between the sexes are modulated by an interplay among genetic, environmental and social factors. Using four African annual killifish species, we combined comparative data from sex ratios in natural populations with experimental results on sex differences in lifespan and aging in replicated captive populations. In the wild, females consistently outlived males. In socially-housed experimental groups, this sex-specific survival difference persisted in two aggressive species, but ceased in two placid species. When social and physical contacts were prevented by housing all fish individually, male-biased mortality ceased in all species. Fitting demographic survival models revealed that increased baseline mortality, and partly a lack of mortality deceleration in old age, were responsible for a shorter male lifespan. The timing and rate of aging were not different between the sexes. No marker of functional aging we recorded (lipofuscin accumulation, proliferative changes in kidney and liver) differed between males and females, despite their previously confirmed association with functional aging in Nothobranchius killifish. Overall, we demonstrate that sex differences in lifespan and aging in killifish are driven by social and environmental conditions, and may be ameliorated by their modification.

opencc-zeroSep 2021View details →

dryad36/100

Data for: Reproductive isolating mechanisms contributing to asymmetric hybridization in Killifishes (Fundulus spp.)

When species hybridize, one F1 hybrid cross type often predominates. Such asymmetry can arise from differences in a variety of reproductive barriers, but the relative roles and concordance of pre-mating, post-mating prezygotic barriers, and post-zygotic barriers in producing these biases in natural animal populations have not been widely investigated. Here, we study a population of predominantly F1 hybrids between two killifish species (Fundulus heteroclitus and Fundulus diaphanus) in which >95% of F1 hybrids have F. diaphanus mothers and F. heteroclitus fathers (D♀×H♂). To determine why F. heteroclitus x F. diaphanus F1 hybrids (H♀×D♂) are so rare, we tested for asymmetry in pre-mating reproductive barriers (female preference, male aggression) at a common salinity (10 ppt) and post-mating, pre-zygotic (fertilization success) and post-zygotic (embryonic development time and hatching success) reproductive barriers at a range of ecologically relevant salinities (0, 5, 10, and 15 ppt). We found that F. heteroclitus females preferred conspecific males, while F. diaphanus females did not, matching the observed cross bias in the wild. Naturally rare H♀×D♂ crosses also had lower fertilization success than all other cross types, and a lower hatching success than the prevalent D♀×H♂ crosses at the salinity found in the hybrid zone centre (10 ppt). Furthermore, the naturally predominant D♀×H♂ crosses had a higher hatching success than F. diaphanus crosses at 10ppt, which may affect their relative abundance. The present study suggests that a combination of incomplete mating, post-mating pre-zygotic and post-zygotic reproductive isolating mechanisms act in concert to produce hybrid asymmetry in this system.

opencc-zeroDec 2022View details →

dryad36/100

Data for: Plastic maternal effects of social density on reproduction and fitness in the least killifish, Heterandria formosa

Environmental parental effects, also known as transgenerational plasticity, are widespread in plants and animals. Less well known is whether those effects contribute to maternal fitness in the same manner in different populations. We carried out a multi-generational laboratory experiment with females drawn from two populations of the Least Killifish, Heterandria formosa, to assess transgenerational plasticity in reproductive traits in response to differences in social density and its effects on maternal fitness. In the first and second generations, increased density decreased reproductive rate and increased offspring size in females from both populations. There were complicated patterns of transgenerational plasticity on maternal fitness that differed between females from different populations. Females from a population with historically low densities whose mothers experienced lower density had higher fitness than females whose mothers experienced higher density, regardless of their own density. The opposite pattern emerged in females from the population with historically high densities: females whose mothers experienced higher density had higher fitness than females whose mothers experienced lower density. This transgenerational plasticity is not anticipatory but might be considered adaptive in both populations if providing those "silver spoons" enhances offspring fitness in all environments.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Increased eye size is favoured in Trinidadian killifish experimentally transplanted into low light, high competition environments

Intraspecific variation in vertebrate eye size is well known. Ecological factors such as light availability are often correlated with shifts in relative eye size. However, experimental tests of selection on eye size are lacking. Trinidadian killifish (Anablepsoides hartii) are found in sites that differ in predation intensity. Sites that lack predators are characterized by lower light, high killifish densities, low resource availability, and intense competition for food. We previously found that killifish in sites that lack predators have evolved a larger relative eye size than fish from sites with predators. Here we used transplant experiments to test how selection operates on eye size when fish that are adapted to sites with predators are translocated into sites where predators are absent. We observed a significant 'population x relative eye size' interaction; the relationship between relative eye size and a proxy for fitness (rates of individual growth) was positive in the transplanted fish. The trend was opposite for resident fish. Such results provide experimental support that larger eyes enhance fitness and are favoured in environments characterized by low light and high competition.

opencc-zeroMay 2023View details →

dryad36/100

Data for: Experimental infections with Euhaplorchis californiensis and a small cyathocotylid increase conspicuous behaviors in California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis)

Some parasites manipulate their host's phenotype to enhance predation rates by the next host in the parasite's life cycle. Our understanding of this "parasite-increased trophic-transmission" is often stymied by study design challenges. A recurring difficulty has been obtaining uninfected hosts with a coevolutionary history with the parasites, and conducting experimental infections that mimic natural processes. In 1996, Lafferty and Morris provided what has become a classic example of parasite-increased trophic-transmission; they reported a positive association between the intensity of a brain-infecting trematode (Euhaplorchis californiensis) in naturally infected California killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis) and the frequency of "conspicuous behaviors", which was thought to explain the documented 10-30x increase in predation by the final host birds. Here, we address the primary gap in that study by using experimental infections to assess causality of E. californiensis infection for increased conspicuous behaviors in F. parvipinnis. We hatched and reared uninfected F. parvipinnis from a population co-occurring with E. californiensis, and infected them 1-2 times/week over half their life span with E. californiensis and a "small cyathocotylid" trematode (SMCY) that targets the host's muscle tissue. At 3 time-points throughout the hosts' lives, we quantified several conspicuous behaviors: contorting, darting, scratching, surfacing, and vertical positioning relative to the water's surface. Euhaplorchis californiensis and SMCY infection caused 1.8 and 2.5-fold overall increases in conspicuous behaviors, respectively. Each parasite was also associated with increases in specific conspicuous behaviors, particularly 1.9 and 1.4-fold more darting. These experimental findings help solidify E. californiensis-F. parvipinnis as a classic example of behavioral manipulation. Yet our findings for E. californiensis infection-induced behavioral change were less consistent and strong than those previously documented. We discuss potential explanations for this discrepancy, particularly the idea that behavioral manipulation may be most apparent when fish are actively attacked by predators. Our findings concerning the other studied trematode species, SMCY, highlight that trophically transmitted parasites infecting various host tissues are known to be associated with conspicuous behaviors, reinforcing calls for research examining how communities of trophically transmitted parasites influence host behavior.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

dryad36/100