Aggressive mimicry in a coral reef fish: The prey's view

Pierotti, Michele E. R.; Wandycz, Anna; Wandycz, Paweł; Rebelein, Anja; Corredor, Vitor Henrique; Tashiro, Juliana H.; Castillo, Armando E.; Wcislo, William T.; McMillan, W. Owen; Loew, Ellis R.

doi:10.1002/ece3.6883

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Spectral sensitivity predictions for the goby LWS paralogs largely overlapped with measured mid-wavelength-sensitive (MWS) and long-wavelength-sensitive photoreceptor sensitivities from a variety of other goby species. However, several of the measured MWS values (λ max = 527 – 531 nm) were slightly shorter than many of the predictions for LWS3 (λ max = 533 – 550 nm) (Pierotti et al 2020 and references therein). This could be explained if amino acids at sites other than the five commonly acknowledged ones are also tuning LWS3.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Multiple ancestral duplications of the red-sensitive opsin gene (LWS) in teleost fishes and convergent spectral shifts to green vision in gobies

Cortesi

Luehrmann

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Photopigments, consisting of an opsin protein bound to a light-sensitive chromophore, are at the centre of vertebrate vision. The vertebrate ancestor already possessed four cone opsin classes involved in colour perception during bright-light conditions, which are sensitive from the ultraviolet to the red-wavelengths of light. Teleosts experienced an extra round of whole genome duplication (3R) at their origin, and while most teleosts maintained only one long-wavelength-sensitive opsin gene (LWS1), the second ancestral copy (LWS2) persisted in characins and osteoglossomorphs. Following 3R, teleost opsins have continued to expand and diversify, which is thought to be a consequence of the different light environment fishes inhabit, from clear streams to the relative darkness of the deep-sea. Although many recent and a few ancestral opsin duplicates can be found, none predating the 3R were thought to exist. In this study we report on a second, previously unnoticed ancestral duplication of the red-sensitive opsin (LWS3), which predates the teleost-specific genome duplication and only persists in gobiid fishes. This is surprising, since it implies that LWS3 has been lost at least 19-20 times independently along the teleost phylogeny. Mining 109 teleost genomes we also uncover a third lineage, the elopomorphs, that maintained the LWS2 copy. We identify convergent amino acid changes that green-shift ancestral and recent LWS copies, leading to adaptive differentiation and the functional replacement of the original green-sensitive RH2 opsin. Retinal transcriptomes and in-situ hybridisation show that LWS3 is expressed to various extents in gobies and in the case of the whitebarred goby, Amblygobius phalaena, it occurs in a separate photoreceptor to LWS1. Our study highlights the importance of comparative studies to comprehend evolution of gene function.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 79%

Multiple ancestral duplications of the red-sensitive opsin gene (LWS) in teleost fishes and convergent spectral shifts to green vision in gobies

Cortesi

Luehrmann

et al. 2021

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Finally, it is important to note that our approach is meant to describe colour pattern variation per se, as opposed to how colour patterns are perceived by, for example, conspecifics, congeners, predators or preys, which requires visual modelling (e.g. Pierotti et al, 2020). In this regard, we note that the GWAS did not identify associations with short‐ and long‐wave sensitive opsin genes ( sws2aα , sws2aβ , sws2b and lws ), which are characterized by a sharp peak of differentiation between species on LG17 (Hench et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phenotypic and genomic dissection of colour pattern variation in a reef fish radiation

et al. 2023

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Coral reefs rank among the most diverse species assemblages on Earth. A particularly striking aspect of coral reef communities is the variety of colour patterns displayed by reef fishes. Colour pattern is known to play a central role in the ecology and evolution of reef fishes through, for example, signalling or camouflage. Nevertheless, colour pattern is a complex trait in reef fishes—actually a collection of traits—that is difficult to analyse in a quantitative and standardized way. This is the challenge that we address in this study using the hamlets (Hypoplectrus spp., Serranidae) as a model system. Our approach involves a custom underwater camera system to take orientation‐ and size‐standardized photographs in situ, colour correction, alignment of the fish images with a combination of landmarks and Bézier curves, and principal component analysis on the colour value of each pixel of each aligned fish. This approach identifies the major colour pattern elements that contribute to phenotypic variation in the group. Furthermore, we complement the image analysis with whole‐genome sequencing to run a multivariate genome‐wide association study for colour pattern variation. This second layer of analysis reveals sharp association peaks along the hamlet genome for each colour pattern element and allows to characterize the phenotypic effect of the single nucleotide polymorphisms that are most strongly associated with colour pattern variation at each association peak. Our results suggest that the diversity of colour patterns displayed by the hamlets is generated by a modular genomic and phenotypic architecture.

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Scorpionfish rapidly change colour in response to their background

2023

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Background To facilitate background matching in heterogenous environments, some animals rapidly change body colouration. Marine predatory fishes might use this ability to hide from predators and prey. Here, we focus on scorpionfishes (Scorpaenidae), well-camouflaged, bottom-dwelling sit-and-wait predators. We tested whether Scorpaena maderensis and Scorpaena porcus adjust body luminance and hue in response to three artificial backgrounds and thereby achieve background matching. Both scorpionfish species are also red fluorescent, which could contribute to background matching at depth. Therefore, we tested whether red fluorescence is also regulated in response to different backgrounds. The darkest and the lightest backgrounds were grey, while the third background was orange of intermediate luminance. Scorpionfish were placed on all three backgrounds in a randomised repeated measures design. We documented changes in scorpionfish luminance and hue with image analysis and calculated contrast to the backgrounds. Changes were quantified from the visual perspective of two potential prey fishes, the triplefin Tripterygion delaisi and the goby Pomatoschistus flavescens. Additionally, we measured changes in the area of scorpionfish red fluorescence. Because scorpionfish changed quicker than initially expected, we measured luminance change at a higher temporal resolution in a second experiment. Results Both scorpionfish species rapidly adjusted luminance and hue in response to a change of background. From prey visual perspective, scorpionfishes’ body achromatic and chromatic contrasts against the background were high, indicating imperfect background matching. Chromatic contrasts differed considerably between the two observer species, highlighting the importance of choosing natural observers with care when studying camouflage. Scorpionfish displayed larger areas of red fluorescence with increasing luminance of the background. With the second experiment, we showed that about 50% of the total luminance change observed after one minute is achieved very rapidly, in five to ten seconds. Conclusion Both scorpionfish species change body luminance and hue in response to different backgrounds within seconds. While the achieved background matching was suboptimal for the artificial backgrounds, we propose that the observed changes were intended to reduce detectability, and are an essential strategy to camouflage in the natural environment.

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Aggressive mimicry in a coral reef fish: The prey's view

Cited by 4 publications

References 78 publications

Multiple ancestral duplications of the red-sensitive opsin gene (LWS) in teleost fishes and convergent spectral shifts to green vision in gobies

Multiple ancestral duplications of the red-sensitive opsin gene (LWS) in teleost fishes and convergent spectral shifts to green vision in gobies

Phenotypic and genomic dissection of colour pattern variation in a reef fish radiation

Scorpionfish rapidly change colour in response to their background

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