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497 results for “stickleback”
Change in threespine stickleback defensive traits, following brook trout introduction
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Late Pleistocene stickleback environmental genomes reveal the chronology of freshwater adaptation
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The EDA receptor (EDAR) is a candidate gene for lateral plate number variation in stickleback fish
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Sex-specific transgenerational plasticity II: Grandpaternal effects are lineage- and sex-specific in threespined sticklebacks
<p>1. Transgenerational plasticity (TGP) occurs when the environment encountered by one generation (F0) alters the phenotypes of one or more future generations (e.g. F1 and F2). Sex selective TGP, via specific lineages or to only male or female descendants, has been underexplored in natural systems, and may be adaptive if it allows past generations to fine-tune the phenotypes of future generations in response to sex-specific life history strategies. </p> <p>2. We sought to understand if exposing males to predation risk can influence grandoffspring via sperm in threespined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). We specifically tested the hypothesis that grandparental effects are transmitted in a sex-specific way down the male lineage, from paternal grandfathers to F2 males. </p> <p>3. We reared F1 offspring of unexposed and predator-exposed F0 males under 'control' conditions and used them to generate F2s with control grandfathers, a predator-exposed maternal grandfather (i.e., predator-exposed F0 males to F1 daughters to F2 offspring), a predator-exposed paternal grandfather (i.e., predator-exposed F0 males to F1 sons to F2 offspring), or two predator-exposed grandfathers. We then assayed male and female F2s for a variety of traits related to antipredator defense. </p> <p>4. We found little evidence that transgenerational effects were mediated to only male descendants via the paternal lineage. Instead, grandpaternal effects depended on lineage and were mediated largely across sexes, from F1 males to F2 females and from F1 females to F2 males. When their paternal grandfather was exposed to predation risk, female F2s were heavier and showed a reduced change in behavior in response to a simulated predator attack relative to offspring of control, unexposed grandparents. In contrast, male F2s showed reduced antipredator behavior when their maternal grandfather was exposed to predation risk. However, these patterns were only evident when one grandfather, but not both grandfathers, was exposed to predation risk, suggesting the potential for non-additive interactions across lineages.</p> <p>5. If sex-specific and lineage effects are common, then grandparental effects are likely underestimated in the literature. These results draw attention to the importance of sex-selective inheritance of environmental effects and raise new questions about the proximate and ultimate causes of selective transmission across generations.</p>
Habitat deterioration relaxes resource competition and sexual selection in the threespine stickleback
The operation of sexual selection depends on ecological conditions. Thus, changes in environmental conditions because of human activities can alter the strength and direction of sexual selection, with implications for evolutionary trajectories and the viability of populations. We show that aquatic algal blooms can relax the operation of sexual selection by influencing which males are available to attract females. This is by influencing the ability of males to maintain a resource needed in mate attraction. When we exposed two competing threespine stickleback males (Gasterosteus aculeatus), whose attractiveness to females was known, to either clear or algal-turbid water, nest abandonment was more common in clear water, and it was usually the unattractive male that abandoned his nest. In turbid water, on the other hand, nest abandonments were less common and when they occurred, the probability increased that the attractive male abandoned his nest, and that the unattractive male subsequently occupied it. This change in the composition of nesting males increased the mating success of unattractive males. Thus, our results reveal a new mechanism through which habitat deterioration can influence sexual selection, by altering success in the competition for a resource critical in mate attraction, a territory with a nest in this case. This could be a common mechanism, considering the prevalence of resource competition in mate choice systems. On a broader level, our results emphasise the importance of considering the impact of environmental changes on the outcome of resource competition when investigating the influence that environmental disturbances have on the operation of sexual selection and thereby on evolutionary processes and population dynamics.
Genome-wide patterns of divergence and introgression after secondary contact between Pungitius sticklebacks
<p>Speciation is a continuous process. Although it is known that differential adaptation can initiate divergence even in the face of gene flow, we know relatively little about the mechanisms driving complete reproductive isolation and the genomic patterns of divergence and introgression at the later stages of speciation. Sticklebacks contain many pairs of sympatric species differing in levels of reproductive isolation and divergence history. Nevertheless, most previous studies have focused on young species pairs. Here, we investigated two sympatric stickleback species, <i>Pungitius pungitius </i>and <i>P. sinensis</i>, whose habitats overlap in eastern Hokkaido; these species show hybrid male sterility, suggesting that they may be at a late stage of speciation. Our demographic analysis using whole genome sequence data showed that these species split 1.73 million years ago and came into secondary contact 37,200 years ago after a period of allopatry. This long period of allopatry might have promoted the evolution of intrinsic incompatibility. Although we detected on-going gene flow and signatures of introgression, overall genomic divergence was high, with considerable heterogeneity across the genome. The heterogeneity was significantly associated with variation in recombination rate. This sympatric pair provides new avenues to investigate the late stages of the stickleback speciation continuum.</p>
Cercarial behaviour alters the consumer functional response of three-spined sticklebacks
<p>1. Free-living parasite life stages may contribute substantially to ecosystem biomass and thus represent a significant source of energy flow when consumed by non-host organisms. However, ambient temperature and the predator's own infection status may modulate consumption rates towards parasite prey.</p> <p>2. We investigated the combined effects of temperature and predator infection status on the consumer functional response of three-spined sticklebacks towards the free-living cercariae stages of two common freshwater trematode parasites (<i>Plagiorchis</i>, <i>Trichobilharzia</i>).</p> <p>3. Our results revealed genera-specific functional responses and consumption rates towards each parasite prey: Type II for <i>Plagiorchis </i>and Type III for <i>Trichobilharzia</i>, with an overall higher consumption rate on <i>Trichobilharzia</i>. Elevated temperature (13 ºC) increased the consumption rate on <i>Plagiorchis </i>prey for sticklebacks with mild cestode infections (<5% fish body weight) only.</p> <p>4. High consumption of cercarial prey by sticklebacks may impact parasite population dynamics by severely reducing or even functionally eliminating free-living parasite life stages from the environment. This supports the potential role of fish as biocontrol agents for cercariae with similar dispersion strategies, in instances where functional response relationships have been established.</p> <p>5. Our study demonstrates how parasite consumption by non-host organisms may be shaped by traits inherent to parasite transmission and dispersal, and emphasizes the need to consider free-living parasite life stages as integral energy resources in aquatic food webs.</p>
Sex differences in laterality are associated with reproduction in three-spine stickleback
<p><span>Laterality, the partitioning of information processing into specific brain hemispheres, is widespread across animal taxa. Substantial unexplained variation in this trait exists, particularly between the sexes, despite multiple identified advantages of lateralisation. Here, we demonstrate a relationship between laterality (measured as directional biases), reproduction and experience of mating and parenting. Using three-spine sticklebacks <i>Gasterosteus aculeatus</i>, a species with uniparental male care, we showed that individuals of the caring sex (males) were more strongly lateralised than the non-caring sex (females) during reproduction, and that laterality was reduced outside the breeding season in males. Additionally, males with experience of mating and parenting were more strongly lateralised than males without this experience. Our findings suggest that fitness related behaviours that vary between the sexes, such as reproductive behaviours including courtship, spawning and parenting, are significant but previously unidentified sources of variation in laterality.</span></p>
Improved contiguity of the threespine stickleback genome using long-read sequencing
<p>While the cost and time for assembling a genome has drastically decreased, it still remains a challenge to assemble a highly contiguous genome. These challenges are rapidly being overcome by the integration of long-read sequencing technologies. Here, we use long-read sequencing to improve the contiguity of the threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) genome, a prominent genetic model species. Using Pacific Biosciences sequencing, we assembled a highly contiguous genome of a freshwater fish from Paxton Lake. Using contigs from this genome, we were able to fill over 76% of the gaps in the existing reference genome assembly, improving contiguity over five-fold. Our gap filling approach was highly accurate, validated by 10X Genomics long-distance linked-reads. In addition to closing a majority of gaps, we were able to assemble segments of telomeres and centromeres throughout the genome. This highlights the power of using long sequencing reads to assemble highly repetitive and difficult to assemble regions of genomes. This latest genome build has been released through a newly designed community genome browser that aims to consolidate the growing number of genomics datasets available for the threespine stickleback fish.</p>
Data from: Independent axes of genetic variation and parallel evolutionary divergence of opercle bone shape in threespine stickleback
Evolution of similar phenotypes in independent populations is often taken as evidence of adaptation to the same fitness optimum. However, the genetic architecture of traits might cause evolution to proceed more often toward particular phenotypes, and less often toward others, independently of the adaptive value of the traits. Freshwater populations of Alaskan threespine stickleback have repeatedly evolved the same distinctive opercle shape after divergence from an oceanic ancestor. Here we demonstrate that this pattern of parallel evolution is widespread, distinguishing oceanic and freshwater populations across the Pacific Coast of North America and Iceland. We test whether this parallel evolution reflects genetic bias by estimating the additive genetic variance-covariance matrix (G) of opercle shape in an Alaskan oceanic (putative ancestral) population. We find significant additive genetic variance for opercle shape and that G has the potential to be biasing, because of the existence of regions of phenotypic space with low additive genetic variation. However, evolution did not occur along major eigenvectors of G, rather occurred repeatedly in the same directions of high evolvability. We conclude that the parallel opercle evolution is most likely due to selection during adaptation to freshwater habitats, rather than due to biasing effects of opercle genetic architecture.
Data from: Drift versus selection as drivers of phenotypic divergence at small spatial scales: the case of Belgjarskógur threespine stickleback
Divergence in phenotypic traits is facilitated by a combination of natural selection, phenotypic plasticity, gene flow and genetic drift, whereby the role of drift is expected to be particularly important in small and isolated populations. Separating the components of phenotypic divergence is notoriously difficult, particularly for multivariate phenotypes. Here we assessed phenotypic divergence of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) across 19 semi-interconnected ponds within a small geographic region (~7.5 km2) using multivariate comparisons of phenotypic divergence (PST) neutral genetic (FST) and environmental (EST) variation. We found phenotypic divergence across the ponds in a suite of functionally relevant phenotypic traits, including feeding, defense and swimming traits and body shape (geometric morphometric). Comparisons of PSTs with FSTs suggest that phenotypic divergence is predominantly driven by neutral or stabilizing selection, whereas phenotypic divergence in defensive traits is in accordance with divergent selection. Comparisons of population pairwise PSTs with ESTs suggest that phenotypic divergence in swimming traits is correlated with prey availability, whereas there were no clear associations between phenotypic divergence and environmental difference in the other phenotypic groups. Overall, our results suggest that phenotypic divergence of these small populations at small geographic scales is largely driven by neutral processes (gene flow, drift), although environmental determinants (natural selection or phenotypic plasticity) may play a role.
Data from: Reversed brain size sexual dimorphism accompanies loss of parental care in white sticklebacks
Uncovering factors that shape variation in brain morphology remains a major challenge in evolutionary biology. Recently, it has been shown that brain size is positively associated with level of parental care behavior in various taxa. One explanation for this pattern is that the cognitive demands of performing complex parental care may require increased brain size. This idea is known as the parental brain hypothesis (PBH). We set out to test the predictions of this hypothesis in wild populations of threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). These fish are commonly known to exhibit (1) uniparental male care and (2) sexual dimorphism in brain size (males>females). To test the PBH, we took advantage of the existence of closely related populations of stickleback that display variation in parental care behavior: common marine threespine sticklebacks (uniparental male care) and white threespine sticklebacks (no care). To begin, we quantified genetic differentiation among two common populations and three white populations from Nova Scotia. We found overall low differentiation among populations, although FST was increased in between-type comparisons. We then measured the brain weights of males and females from all five populations along with two additional common populations from British Columbia. We found that sexual dimorphism in brain size is reversed in white stickleback populations: males have smaller brains than females. Thus, while several alternatives need to be ruled out, the PBH appears to be a reasonable explanation for sexual dimorphism in brain size in threespine sticklebacks.
Data from: Morphological differences between habitats are associated with physiological and behavioural trade-offs in stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Local specialization can be advantageous for individuals and may increase the resilience of the species to environmental change. However, there may be trade-offs between morphological responses and physiological performance and behaviour. Our aim was to test whether habitat-specific morphology of stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) interacts with physiological performance and behaviour at different salinities. We rejected the hypothesis that deeper body shape of fish from habitats with high predation pressure led to decreases in locomotor performance. However, there was a trade-off between deeper body shape and muscle quality. Muscle of deeper-bodied fish produced less force than that of shallow-bodied saltmarsh fish. Nonetheless, saltmarsh fish had lower swimming performance, presumably because of lower muscle mass overall coupled with smaller caudal peduncles and larger heads. Saltmarsh fish performed better in saline water (20 ppt) relative to freshwater and relative to fish from freshwater habitats. However, exposure to salinity affected shoaling behaviour of fish from all habitats and shoals moved faster and closer together compared with freshwater. We show that habitat modification can alter phenotypes of native species, but local morphological specialization is associated with trade-offs that may reduce its benefits.
Data from: A four-questions perspective on public information use in sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae)
Whether learning primarily reflects general processes or species-specific challenges is a longstanding matter of dispute. Here we present a comprehensive analysis of public information use (PI-use) in sticklebacks (Gasterosteidae). PI-use is a form of social learning by which animals are able to assess the relative quality of resources, here prey patches, by observing the behaviour of others. PI-use was highly species-specific with only two of the assayed species, Pungitius spp. and their closest relative Culaea inconstans showing evidence of PI-use. We saw no effects of ontogenetic experience upon PI-use in P. pungitius. Experiments with live demonstrators and animated fish revealed that heightened activity and feeding strikes by foraging conspecifics are important cues in the transmission of PI. Finally, PI-use was the only form of learning in which P. pungitius and another stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus differed. PI-use in sticklebacks is species-specific and may represent an 'ecological specialisation' for social foraging. Whether this reflects selection on perception, attentional or cognitive processes remains to be determined.
Data from: No effect of elevated carbon dioxide on reproductive behaviors in the three-spined stickleback
Ocean acidification, the reduction in ocean pH resulting from anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), has been predicted to alter the behavior of fishes. During experimental exposure to CO2 concentrations projected for the year 2100 (~1000 µatm), fish have been reported to display disturbances in activity, learning, behavioral lateralization, and even attraction to predator cues. Reproductive behaviors have received far less attention, despite an intensive research effort on ocean acidification and its ecological importance. Here, we investigate whether elevated levels of CO2 affect reproduction in breeding pairs of the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, a model species in behavioral, evolutionary ecology, and environmental toxicology. We found that males under both present day levels (400 µatm) and future levels (1000 µatm) of CO2 developed normal sexual ornaments, pursued normal nest building activities, exhibited similar levels of courtship behaviors and displacement fanning, and had the same mating probability. Moreover, fanning behavior during the paternal care period followed what is expected for the species for males from both treatments, and there was no effect of treatment on the numbers of offspring produced. This study is the first to investigate the effect of elevated CO2 on the complete breeding cycle in detail, studying an array of highly fitness-relevant traits. Our study showing surprising resilience of fish reproduction is an important contribution in order to realistically predict the impacts of future ocean acidification.
Data from: Partitioning the effects of spatial isolation, nest habitat, and individual diet in causing assortative mating within a population of threespine stickleback
Assortative mating is measured as a phenotypic or genotypic correlation between mates. Although biologists typically view assortative mating in terms of mate preference for similar partners, correlations between mates can also arise from phenotypic spatial structure arising from spatial isolation or habitat preferences. Here, we test whether diet-assortative mating within an ecologically variable population of threespine stickleback results from small-scale geographic isolation or microhabitat preference. We find evidence for assortative mating in the form of a positive correlation between mated pairs' diets (measured using stable isotopes). Stable isotopes reveal diet differences between different nesting areas and among individuals using different nest habitat within a nesting area. This spatial segregation of diet types should generate some assortative mating, but is insufficient to explain the observed assortment strength. Significant male-female isotope correlations remain after controlling for spatial variables. We therefore conclude that sticklebacks' diet-assortative mating arises from additional behavioral preference. More generally, our results illustrate the point that spatial segregation can only drive appreciable levels of phenotypic assortative mating when environment-phenotype correlations are parallel and strong in both sexes. Consequently, intraspecific assortative mating may typically entail mating preferences rather than just spatial co-segregation of phenotypes.
Data from: Conspicuous female ornamentation and tests of male mate preference in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Sexual selection drives the evolution of exaggerated male ornaments in many animal species. Female ornamentation is now acknowledged also to be common but is generally less well understood. One example is the recently documented red female throat coloration in some threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) populations. Although female sticklebacks often exhibit a preference for red male throat coloration, the possibility of sexual selection on female coloration has been little studied. Using sequential and simultaneous mate choice trials, we examined male mate preferences for female throat color, as well as pelvic spine color and standard length, using wild-captured threespine sticklebacks from the Little Campbell River, British Columbia. In a multivariate analysis, we found no evidence for a population-level mate preference in males, suggesting the absence of directional sexual selection on these traits arising from male mate choice. Significant variation was detected among males in their preference functions, but this appeared to arise from differences in their mean responsiveness across mating trials and not from variation in the strength (i.e., slope) of their preference, suggesting the absence of individual-level preferences as well. When presented with conspecific intruder males, male response decreased as intruder red throat coloration increased, suggesting that males can discriminate color and other aspects of phenotype in our experiment and that males may use these traits in intrasexual interactions. The results presented here are the first to explicitly address male preference for female throat color in threespine sticklebacks.
Data from: Ancestral plasticity and allometry in threespine stickleback reveal phenotypes associated with derived, freshwater ecotypes
For over a century, evolutionary biologists have debated whether and how phenotypic plasticity impacts the processes of adaptation and diversification. The empirical tests required to resolve these issues have proven elusive, mainly because it requires documentation of ancestral reaction norms, a difficult prospect where many ancestors are either extinct or have evolved. The threespine stickleback radiation is not limited in this regard, making it an ideal system in which to address general questions regarding the role of plasticity in adaptive evolution. As retreating ice sheets have exposed new habitats, oceanic stickleback founded innumerable freshwater populations, many of which have evolved parallel adaptations to their new environments. Because the founding oceanic population is extant, we can directly evaluate whether specific patterns of ancestral phenotypic expression in the context of novel environments (plasticity), or over ontogeny, predisposed the repeated evolution of "benthic" and "limnetic" ecotypes in shallow and deep lakes, respectively. Consistent with this hypothesis, we found that oceanic stickleback raised in a complex habitat and fed a macroinvertebrate diet expressed traits resembling derived, benthic fish. Alternatively, when reared in a simple environment on a diet of zooplankton, oceanic stickleback developed phenotypes resembling derived, limnetic fish. As fish in both treatments grew, their body depths increased allometrically, as did the size of their mouths, while their eyes became relatively smaller. Allometric trajectories were subtly but significantly impacted by rearing environment. Thus, both environmental and allometric influences on development, along with their interactive effects, produced variation in phenotypes consistent with derived benthic and limnetic fish, which may have predisposed the repeated genetic accommodation of this specific suite of traits. We also found significant shape differences between marine and anadromous stickleback, which has implications for evaluating the ancestral state of stickleback traits.
Data from: Predation cost of a sexual signal in the threespine stickleback
Much evidence exists for sexually selected traits reflecting various components of mate quality, but the factors that limit signal expression and ensure honest signaling are less well known. Predation risk has been proposed to be one factor that could constrain the elaboration of visually conspicuous signals and ensure honesty, but little evidence exists because of limitations of earlier used methods. We investigated using a combination of field observations and experimental work if a conspicuous sexual signal of the threespine stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, the red nuptial coloration of the male, increases predation risk. We compared the proportion of colorful males in the gut of a predator in the wild, the perch Perca fluviatilis, to that in the population, and found proportionally more red-colored stickleback in the gut. This indicates that the predator selectively preys on colorful males under natural conditions. To differentiate between the effects of color and behavior on susceptibility to predation, we experimentally investigated the attack behavior of the predator towards breeding stickleback males differing in coloration. We found the predator to preferentially attack more colorful males, independent of their behavior. These results indicate that predation risk is a cost of the sexual signal that could limit expression and influence the honesty of the signal as an indicator of mate quality.
Data from: Male choice in the stream-anadromous stickleback complex
Studies of mating preferences and pre-mating reproductive isolation have often focused on females, but the potential importance of male preferences is increasingly appreciated. We investigated male behavior in the context of reproductive isolation between divergent anadromous and stream-resident populations of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, using size-manipulated females of both ecotypes. Specifically, we asked if male courtship preferences are present, and if they are based on relative body size, non-size aspects of ecotype, or other traits. Because male behaviors were correlated with each other, we conducted a principal components analysis on the correlations and ran subsequent analyses on the principal components. The two male ecotypes differed in overall behavioral frequencies, with stream-resident males exhibiting consistently more vigorous and positive courtship than anadromous males, and an otherwise aggressive behavior playing a more positive role in anadromous than stream-resident courtship. We observed more vigorous courtship toward smaller females by (relatively small) stream-resident males and the reverse pattern for (relatively large) anadromous males. Thus size-assortative male courtship preferences may contribute to reproductive isolation in this system, although preferences are far from absolute. We found little indication of males responding preferentially to females of their own ecotype independent of body size.
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