Amy Deacon
  • Home
  • About
  • Research
    • Research Interests
    • Current Research
    • People
    • Publications
  • Outreach
    • News
    • Writing
  • Art
  • Links
  • Teaching
    • Teaching Responsibilities
    • Teaching Portfolio

Invasion of the monogamous fish

29/6/2014

0 Comments

 
PictureFemale guppies usually mate multiply
Researchers at the University of St Andrews have made a shock discovery; that restricting a normally multiply mating fish to monogamous mating does not impair their colonisation ability. Their findings show that releasing just one or two fish into the wild may be enough to trigger an aquatic invasion.

In a paper published this month in the journal BMC Ecology, researchers from the University of St Andrews tested whether forcing female guppies to be monogamous would impede their ability to establish viable populations.

The guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is a successful invasive species throughout the tropics. In the wild it employs a 'multiple mating' strategy, and resulting broods commonly contain offspring sired by up to five different fathers.

Previous studies have shown that mating with multiple partners carries a range of benefits, including increased genetic and phenotypic diversity of offspring, and inbreeding avoidance -which are potentially advantageous for a species attempting to colonise a new environment.

However, as part of this latest study, female guppies were either allowed to mate with four males, or were restricted to one partner. Pregnant females were then left to establish populations in large tanks in the laboratory. After one year, the two treatments were compared. 

Dr Amy Deacon explains:

"One of our key findings was that mating history did not predict establishment success, which was 88% in both treatments".

PictureA monogamous pair of guppies.
What's more the researchers had expected that inbreeding depression might be evident in the behaviour of fish in the monogamous treatment, which would suggest that their ability to persist once established could be limited. However, this was not the case; newborn and adult male offspring of both treatments were equally good at avoiding predators and at courting females.
These results suggest that even when denied the option of multiple mating, singly-mated female guppies can produce viable populations, at least at the founder stage.

The ability to colonise even when multiple mating is restricted may prove to be critical during introductions, where a few individuals are released into enclosed water bodies before finding their way into natural ecosystems. For example, guppies are commonly introduced into rivers or ponds as unwanted pets, or into troughs or wells for mosquito control, but later tend to spread to new habitats during floods or monsoons.

Once established in rivers and streams, aquatic invaders are notoriously difficult to eradicate.

The findings of this study reinforce the message that although seemingly harmless, releasing just one or two individuals can lead to a potentially invasive population.

The full text (open access) article can be viewed at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6785/14/18

Authored by me, this press released was edited and issued by the University of St Andrews Press Office.
Coverage in the media includes:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/scientists-discover-that-monogamy-does-not-curb-colonisation-by-guppies.24607524

http://phys.org/news/2014-06-invasion-monogamous-fish.html

http://cryptozoologynews.blogspot.com/2014/06/invasion-of-monogamous-fish.html


0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    News

    A place to post relevant stories and updates

    Archives

    June 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    May 2017
    December 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    September 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    September 2013
    February 2013
    November 2012
    June 2012
    September 2011

    Categories

    All
    Animal Behaviour
    Art
    BioBlitz
    Biodiversity
    BioTIME
    British Ecological Society
    Cetaceans
    Citizen Science
    Climate Change
    Conferences
    Conservation
    Coral Reefs
    Exhibition
    Fish
    Flamingos
    Freshwater Ecology
    Guppies
    Invasive Species
    Kenya
    Living World Journal
    Outreach
    Poeciliids
    Publications
    Spiders
    The University Of The West Indies
    Trinidad And Tobago
    Trinidad And Tobago Field Naturalists' Club
    University Of St Andrews

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.