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Majoris JE, Francisco FA, Burns CM, Brandl SJ, Warkentin KM, Buston PM. Paternal care regulates the timing, synchrony and success of hatching in a coral reef fish. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20221466. [PMID: 36100017 PMCID: PMC9470247 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.1466] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2022] [Accepted: 08/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
In oviparous species, the timing of hatching is a crucial decision, but for developing embryos, assessing cues that indicate the optimal time to hatch is challenging. In species with pre-hatching parental care, parents can assess environmental conditions and induce their offspring to hatch. We provide the first documentation of parental hatching regulation in a coral reef fish, demonstrating that male neon gobies (Elacatinus colini) directly regulate hatching by removing embryos from the clutch and spitting hatchlings into the water column. All male gobies synchronized hatching within 2 h of sunrise, regardless of when eggs were laid. Paternally incubated embryos hatched later in development, more synchronously, and had higher hatching success than artificially incubated embryos that were shaken to provide a vibrational stimulus or not stimulated. Artificially incubated embryos displayed substantial plasticity in hatching times (range: 80-224 h post-fertilization), suggesting that males could respond to environmental heterogeneity by modifying the hatching time of their offspring. Finally, paternally incubated embryos hatched with smaller yolk sacs and larger propulsive areas than artificially incubated embryos, suggesting that paternal effects on hatchling phenotypes may influence larval dispersal and fitness. These findings highlight the complexity of fish parental care behaviour and may have important, and currently unstudied, consequences for fish population dynamics.
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Affiliation(s)
- John E. Majoris
- Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Marine Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA
| | - Fritz A. Francisco
- Department of Biology, Humboldt University Berlin, Berlin 10587, Germany
- Excellence Cluster Science of Intelligence, Technical University Berlin, Berlin 10587, Germany
| | - Corinne M. Burns
- Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski, Université du Québec à Rimouski, 315 alleé des Ursulines, C.P. 3300, Rimouski, QC, Canada G2 L 3A1
| | - Simon J. Brandl
- Department of Marine Science, The University of Texas at Austin, Marine Science Institute, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373, USA
| | - Karen M. Warkentin
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
| | - Peter M. Buston
- Marine Program, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
- Department of Biology, Boston University, 5 Cummington Mall, Boston, MA 02215, USA
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Zhang H, Zhang B, Kawaguchi M, Lin Q. Effects of hatching enzymes on egg envelope digestion in the male-brooding seahorse. Mol Reprod Dev 2021; 88:459-470. [PMID: 33960059 DOI: 10.1002/mrd.23474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Revised: 04/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Abstract
In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of hatching enzymes on the egg envelope digestion during the hatching period in the male brooding seahorse. The complementary DNAs encoding two hatching-enzyme genes, high choriolytic enzyme (HCE) and low choriolytic enzyme (LCE), were cloned and functionally characterized from the lined seahorse (Hippocampus erectus). The genomic-synteny analysis confirmed that teleosts shared LCE gene synteny. In contrast, the genomic location of HCE was found to be conserved with pipefish, but not other teleosts, suggesting that translocation into a novel genomic location occurred. Whole-mount in situ hybridization showed that HCE and LCE mRNAs were expressed in hatching gland cells. To determine the digestion mechanisms of HCE and LCE in hatching, recombinant HCE and LCE were generated and their enzyme activities were examined using fertilized egg envelopes and synthetic peptides. Seahorse HCE and LCE independently digested and softened the egg envelopes of the lined seahorse. Although the egg envelope was digested more following HCE and LCE co-treatment, envelope solubilization was not observed. Indeed, both HCE and LCE showed similar substrate specificities toward four different synthetic peptides designed from the cleavage sites of egg envelope proteins. HCE and LCE proteins from other euteleostean fishes showed different specificities, and the egg envelope was solubilized by the cooperative action of HCE and LCE. These results suggest that the function of LCE was degenerated in the lined seahorse. Our results imply a digestion mechanism for evolutionary adaptation in ovoviviparous fish with male pregnancy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huixian Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Bo Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou, China
| | - Mari Kawaguchi
- Department of Materials and Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Qiang Lin
- CAS Key Laboratory of Tropical Marine Bio-resources and Ecology (LMB), South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Innovation Academy of South China Sea Ecology and Environmental Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China.,Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Takegaki T, Nakatake Y, Amiya N. Effect of the administration of prolactin-releasing peptide2 on feeding activity in the intertidal blenny Rhabdoblennius nitidus (Günther, 1861). JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2020; 97:566-571. [PMID: 32367528 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.14367] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Revised: 04/20/2020] [Accepted: 04/30/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Prolactin-releasing peptide2 (PrRP2) was administered intraperitoneally to male intertidal blenny Rhabdoblennius nitidus, a species with male uniparental care of eggs, to investigate the effect on their feeding activity. A significant inhibitory effect on appetite was observed in the breeding season, but not in the nonbreeding season. These results suggest that PrRP2 and PrRP2 receptors are more active during the breeding season. The presence of a mechanism to inhibit feeding activity while parents take care of their offspring may be important for the success of parental care.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takeshi Takegaki
- Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Yosuke Nakatake
- Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Noriko Amiya
- School of Marine Biosciences, Kitasato University, Sagamihara, Japan
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