Why be a cannibal? The benefits to cane toad, Rhinella marina [=Bufo marinus], tadpoles of consuming conspecific eggs

Crossland, Michael R.; Hearnden, Mark; Pizzatto, Lígia; Alford, Ross A.; Shine, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2011.07.009

Cited by 44 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Pheromonal production by the older tadpoles may be continuous, or may have been evoked by the presence of eggs (tadpoles can detect eggs from waterborne cues [17,18]) or by starvation [37]. These possibilities could be tested by exposing eggs to water from tadpoles that had or had not been exposed previously to conspecific eggs, or from fed versus unfed tadpoles.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Older tadpoles search out and consume eggs before they hatch, thereby reducing competition [17,18]. After they hatch, however, the mobile larvae are invulnerable to attack [17]. If it is difficult for cannibalistic tadpoles to find eggs in muddy weedchoked ponds, we might also expect pheromonal suppression to evolve.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High densities of toad tadpoles [12,13] result in intense competition, reducing survival, growth and size at metamorphosis [14][15][16][17]. Older tadpoles search out and consume eggs before they hatch, thereby reducing competition [17,18]. After they hatch, however, the mobile larvae are invulnerable to attack [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We studied cane toads (Rhinella marina), bufonid anurans whose spread through Australia has killed many native predators [9][10][11]. High densities of toad tadpoles [12,13] result in intense competition, reducing survival, growth and size at metamorphosis [14][15][16][17]. Older tadpoles search out and consume eggs before they hatch, thereby reducing competition [17,18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Embryonic exposure to conspecific chemicals suppresses cane toad growth and survival

Crossland

Shine

2011

Biol. Lett.

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Adaptations to suppress the viability of conspecifics may provide novel ways to control invasive taxa. The spread of cane toads (Rhinella marina) through tropical Australia has had severe ecological impacts, stimulating a search for biocontrol. Our experiments show that cane toad tadpoles produce waterborne chemical cues that suppress the viability of conspecifics encountering those cues during embryonic development. Brief (72 h) exposure to these cues in the egg and posthatching phases massively reduced rates of survival and growth of larvae. Body sizes at metamorphosis (about three weeks later) were almost twice as great in control larvae as in tadpole-exposed larvae. The waterborne cue responsible for these effects might provide a weapon to reduce toad recruitment within the species' invaded range.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Embryonic exposure to conspecific chemicals suppresses cane toad growth and survival

Crossland

Shine

2011

Biol. Lett.

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“…Although it can sometimes function to eliminate competitors 1,2 or be the price of mating 3 , it is usually a means of supplementing nutrition [4][5][6][7] . Cannibalism has important ecological consequences for population dynamics and stability, interspecific trophic interactions as well as pathogen transmission and epidemiology [8][9][10] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Predatory cannibalism in Drosophila melanogaster larvae

2013

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Hunting live prey is risky and thought to require specialized adaptations. Therefore, observations of predatory cannibalism in otherwise non-carnivorous animals raise questions about its function, adaptive significance and evolutionary potential. Here we document predatory cannibalism on larger conspecifics in Drosophila melanogaster larvae and address its evolutionary significance. We found that under crowded laboratory conditions younger larvae regularly attack and consume 'wandering-stage' conspecifics, forming aggregations mediated by chemical cues from the attacked victim. Nutrition gained this way can be significant: an exclusively cannibalistic diet was sufficient for normal development from eggs to fertile adults. Cannibalistic diet also induced plasticity of larval mouth parts. Finally, during 118 generations of experimental evolution, replicated populations maintained under larval malnutrition evolved enhanced propensity towards cannibalism. These results suggest that, at least under laboratory conditions, predation on conspecifics in Drosophila is a functional, adaptive behaviour, which can rapidly evolve in response to nutritional conditions.

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Field trials of chemical suppression of embryonic cane toads (Rhinella marina) by older conspecifics

McCann

Crossland

Greenlees

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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Laboratory experiments have shown that the viability of embryos of the invasive cane toad (Rhinella marina) can be reduced by exposure to chemical cues from older conspecific larvae. These effects (very strong in laboratory trials) may offer an exciting new approach to controlling this problematic invasive species in Australia. However, the degree to which the method works in natural environments has yet to be assessed. Our experiments in the laboratory and in seminatural outdoor waterbodies show that chemical cues from tadpoles do indeed suppress the growth, development, and survival of conspecific larvae that are exposed as embryos and do so in a dose‐dependent manner; higher tadpole densities cause greater suppression of embryos. In seminatural outdoor waterbodies, suppressor‐exposed tadpoles were less than half as likely to survive to metamorphosis as were controls, and were much smaller when they did so and hence, less likely to survive the metamorph stage. Additionally, female cane toads were less likely to oviposit in a waterbody containing free‐ranging (but not cage‐enclosed) tadpoles, suggesting that the presence of tadpoles (rather than the chemical cues they produce) may discourage oviposition. Broadly, our results suggest that the suppression effect documented in laboratory studies does indeed occur in the field also, and hence that we may be able to translate that approach to develop new and more effective ways to reduce rates of recruitment of peri‐urban populations of cane toads in their invasive range.

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Why be a cannibal? The benefits to cane toad, Rhinella marina [=Bufo marinus], tadpoles of consuming conspecific eggs

Cited by 44 publications

References 33 publications

Embryonic exposure to conspecific chemicals suppresses cane toad growth and survival

Embryonic exposure to conspecific chemicals suppresses cane toad growth and survival

Predatory cannibalism in Drosophila melanogaster larvae

Field trials of chemical suppression of embryonic cane toads (Rhinella marina) by older conspecifics

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