Water turbidity affects melanin-based coloration in the gudgeon: a reciprocal transplant experiment

Côte, Jessica; Pilisi, Camille; Morisseau, Océane; Veyssière, Charlotte; Perrault, Annie; Jean, Stéphane; Blanchet, Simon; Jacquin, Lisa

doi:10.1093/biolinnean/blz102

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Many studies have shown that lighting habitats correlate with the respective color patterns (e.g., Reimchen 1989 ; Scott 2001 ; Fuller 2002 ; Novales Flamarique et al 2013a ; Giery and Layman 2017 ; Côte et al 2019 ). We also found substantial differences between the color patterns at longer but not at shorter wavelengths of males of the tea-stained and clear-water habitat type ( Table 1 ) that correlate with the lighting habitat.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of lighting environment on social preferences in sticklebacks from two different photic habitats. I. mate preferences of wild-caught females

et al. 2021

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Ultraviolet A (UVA) signals (320-400 nm) are important in mate choice in numerous species. The sensitivity for ultraviolet signals is not only assumed to be costly, but also expected to be a function of the prevailing ecological conditions. Generally, those signals are favored by selection that efficiently reach the receiver. A decisive factor for color signaling is the lighting environment, especially in aquatic habitats, as the visibility of signals, and thus costs and benefits, are instantaneously influenced by it. Although ecological aspects of color signal evolution are relatively well-studied, there is little data on specific effects of environmental UV-light conditions on signaling at these shorter wavelengths. We studied wild-caught gravid female three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus of two photic habitat types (tea-stained and clear-water lakes), possessing great variation in their UV transmission. In two treatments, tea-stained and clear-water, preferences for males viewed under UV-present and UV-absent conditions were tested. A preference for males under UV-present conditions was found for females from both habitat types, thus stressing the significance of UV signals in stickleback´s mate choice decisions. However, females from both habitat types showed the most pronounced preferences for males under UV-present conditions under clear-water test conditions. Moreover, reflectance measurements revealed that the carotenoid-based orange-red breeding coloration in wild-caught males of both habitat types differed significantly in color intensity (higher in clear-water males) and hue (more red shifted in clear-water males) while no significant differences in UV coloration were found. The differential reflection patterns in longer wavelengths suggest that sticklebacks of both habitat types have adapted to the respective water conditions. Adaptations of UV signals in a sexual context to ambient light conditions in both behavior and coloration seem less evident.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of lighting environment on social preferences in sticklebacks from two different photic habitats. I. mate preferences of wild-caught females

et al. 2021

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“…Reciprocal transplant experiments are often used to test how a population is affected by the environment. Non-zero reaction norms can be taken as either evidence for plasticity (e.g., Côte et al 2019; Walter et al 2021) or for local adaptation (e.g., Barton et al 2020; Martin et al 2021). However, the interpretation of reaction norms obtained in reciprocal transplant experiments may lead to opposite conclusions depending on whether the assessed trait is an adaptive trait or a fitness-indicator trait.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adaptive, maladaptive, neutral, or absent plasticity: Hidden caveats of reaction norms

Eriksson

Kinnby

Wit

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Adaptive phenotypic plasticity may improve the response of individuals when faced with new environmental conditions. Typically, empirical evidence for plasticity is based on phenotypic reaction norms obtained in reciprocal transplant experiments. In such experiments, individuals from their native environment are transplanted into a different environment, and a number of trait values, potentially implicated in individuals' response to the new environment, are measured. However, the interpretations of reaction norms may differ depending on the nature of the assessed traits, which may not be known beforehand. For example, for traits that contribute to local adaptation, adaptive plasticity implies non-zero slopes of reaction norms. By contrast, for traits that are correlated to fitness, high tolerance to different environments (possibly due to adaptive plasticity in traits that contribute to adaptation) may, instead, imply flat reaction norms. Here we investigate the shape of reaction norms for adaptive versus fitness-correlated traits, and how they may affect the conclusions regarding the contribution of plasticity. To this end, we first simulate range expansion along an environmental gradient where plasticity evolves to different values locally and then perform reciprocal transplant experiments in silico. We show that reaction norms alone cannot inform us whether the assessed trait exhibits locally adaptive, maladaptive, neutral or no plasticity, without any additional knowledge of the traits assessed and species' biology. We use the insights from the model to analyse and interpret empirical data from reciprocal transplant experiments involving the marine isopod Idotea balthica sampled from two environments with different salinities, concluding that the low-salinity population likely has reduced adaptive plasticity relative to the high-salinity population. Overall, we conclude that, when interpreting results from reciprocal transplant experiments, it is necessary to consider whether traits assessed are locally adaptive with respect to the environmental variable accounted for in the experiments, or correlated to fitness.

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“…Until now, the change of color-based signals in response to visually challenging environments has been demonstrated only in a handful of studies, and limited to the context of adult signaling. In gudgeon fish, a two-week transplant experiment showed the overall expression of melanin decreased in turbid conditions, leading to lighter colored fishes (i.e., economy of pigments hypothesis; Côte et al, 2019). We hypothesize that increased turbidity levels will induce a "relaxed" phenotype where tadpoles do not express camouflage/disruptive coloration despite the potential presence of predators.…”

Section: Environmentally Induced Phenotypic Adaptations and Their Cascading Effectsmentioning

confidence: 92%

Tadpole Responses to Environments With Limited Visibility: What We (Don’t) Know and Perspectives for a Sharper Future

2022

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Amphibian larvae typically inhabit relatively shallow freshwater environments, and within these boundaries there is considerable diversity in the structure of the habitats exploited by different species. This diversity in habitat structure is usually taken into account in relation to aspects such as locomotion and feeding, and plays a fundamental role in the classification of tadpoles into ecomorphological guilds. However, its impact in shaping the sensory worlds of different species is rarely addressed, including the optical qualities of each of these types of water bodies and the challenges and limitations that they impose on the repertoire of visual abilities available for a typical vertebrate eye. In this Perspective article, we identify gaps in knowledge on (1) the role of turbidity and light-limited environments in shaping the larval visual system; and (2) the possible behavioral and phenotypic responses of larvae to such environments. We also identify relevant unaddressed study systems paying special attention to phytotelmata, whose small size allows for extensive quantification and manipulation providing a rich and relatively unexplored research model. Furthermore, we generate hypotheses ranging from proximate shifts (i.e., red-shifted spectral sensitivity peaks driven by deviations in chromophore ratios) to ultimate changes in tadpole behavior and phenotype, such as reduced foraging efficiency and the loss of antipredator signaling. Overall, amphibians provide an exciting opportunity to understand adaptations to visually limited environments, and this framework will provide novel experimental considerations and interpretations to kickstart future research based on understanding the evolution and diversity of strategies used to cope with limited visibility.

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Water turbidity affects melanin-based coloration in the gudgeon: a reciprocal transplant experiment

Cited by 13 publications

References 40 publications

Influence of lighting environment on social preferences in sticklebacks from two different photic habitats. I. mate preferences of wild-caught females

Influence of lighting environment on social preferences in sticklebacks from two different photic habitats. I. mate preferences of wild-caught females

Adaptive, maladaptive, neutral, or absent plasticity: Hidden caveats of reaction norms

Tadpole Responses to Environments With Limited Visibility: What We (Don’t) Know and Perspectives for a Sharper Future

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