The influence of carotenoid supplementation at different life-stages on the foraging performance of the Southern Corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree): A test of the Silver Spoon and Environmental Matching Hypotheses

Abstract

Organismal performance can be significantly affected by the nutritional conditions experienced during different life-stages. The Silver Spoon Hypothesis predicts that individuals will always perform better as adults when they experience advantageous conditions during development. In contrast, the Environmental Matching Hypothesis predicts that individuals will perform better if they experience similar conditions during development and adulthood. Past tests of these hypotheses have focussed on the effect of food quantity on growth and development, with little attempt to investigate the effect of individual nutrients on behavioural traits. This study aimed to test the predictions of the Environmental Matching and Silver Spoon Hypotheses by investigating the influence of carotenoid supplementation at different life-stages on the foraging performance of Pseudophryne corroboree. To assess foraging performance, adults were presented with prey in either a cryptic or conspicuous foraging matrix. There was no effect of diet treatment on time to first movement towards prey, number of stalking events, time spent actively foraging, proportion of successful strikes, proportion of prey consumed or number of pedal luring events. These findings indicate that carotenoid supplementation at different life-stages does not influence the foraging performance of P. corroboree, providing no support for either the Silver Spoon or Environmental Matching Hypotheses. AbstractOrganismal performance can be significantly affected by the nutritional conditions experienced during different life-stages. The Silver Spoon Hypothesis predicts that individuals will always perform better as adults when they experience advantageous conditions during development. In contrast, the Environmental Matching Hypothesis predicts that individuals will perform better if they experience similar conditions during development and adulthood. Past tests of these hypotheses have focussed on the effect of food quantity on growth and development, with little attempt to investigate the effect of individual nutrients on behavioural traits. This study aimed to test the predictions of the Environmental Matching and Silver Spoon Hypotheses by investigating the influence of carotenoid supplementation at different life-stages on the foraging performance of Pseudophryne corroboree. To assess foraging performance, adults were presented with prey in either a cryptic or conspicuous foraging matrix. There was no effect of diet treatment on time to first movement towards prey, number of stalking events, time spent actively foraging, proportion of successful strikes, proportion of prey consumed or number of pedal luring events. These findings indicate that carotenoid supplementation at different life-stages does not influence the foraging performance of P. corroboree, providing no support for either the Silver Spoon or Environmental Matching Hypotheses.

The importance of quantifying fitness-determining traits throughout life to assess the application of reproductive technologies for amphibian species recovery

“…The behavioural ecology literature is replete with examples of these types of assays, and they range from being very simple and easy to run, to highly complex (Kelleher et al, 2018). Some relatively simple tests include observing or video recording test subjects and measuring sensorimotor performance, such as quantifying foraging efficiency (Mcinerney et al, 2016), locomotory performance (Szeḱely et al, 2020), activity levels in familiar home environments (Videlier et al, 2014;Urszań et al, 2015), and exploration and boldness behaviour in novel environments (Brodin et al, 2013;Carlson and Langkilde, 2013;Kelleher et al, 2019). For many species, anti-predatory escape responses (quantified as escape burst speed and distance travelled) can also be measured following a simulated predator attack.…”

Carotenoid supplementation affects the post-hibernation performance of southern corroboree frogs

“…water. During both larval (tadpole) and adult (post-metamorphic) life-stages, animals were housed individually according to husbandry methods stated elsewhere (McInerney et al, 2016;Silla et al, 2016). At the commencement of the experimental period, tadpoles were randomly assigned to either an unsupplemented dietary treatment or a carotenoid-supplemented dietary treatment (N = 24 frogs per treatment).…”

APLIKASI ASTAXANTHIN DARI HAEMATOCOCCUS PADA BENIH KERAPU SUNU (Plectropomus leopardus) TERHADAP TOTAL KAROTENOID DAN PROFIL DARAH

“…Terdapat lebih dari 400 jenis senyawa carotenoid yang ada di alam, namun hanya beberapa senyawa saja yang dimanfaatkan secara komersial antara lain -carotene (Olaizola, 2003), astaxanthin, lutein, lycopene, canthaxanthin zeaxanthin, dan bixin (Tay-Agbozo et al, 2018). Carotenoid secara komersial dimanfaatkan sebagai pewarna alami pada makanan (Arimboor et al, 2015), sebagai bahan aditif pada makanan ternak (McInerney et al, 2016) dan ikan (AbdelsameeGoda et al, 2018); sebagai suplemen makanan (Graham & Roser, 2000;Hussein et al, 2016), obat (Nolan et al, 2018), dan kosmetik (Kim et al, 2009). Selain sebagai sumber pigmen alami, carotenoid juga memiliki aktivitas antioksidan (Fiedor & Burda, 2014).…”