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Kaczmarski M, Kaczmarek JM, Kowalski K, Borowski K, Kęsy J, Kloskowski J. Increasingly cautious sampling, not the black colouration of unpalatable prey, is used by fish in avoidance learning. Anim Cogn 2023; 26:1705-1711. [PMID: 37505424 PMCID: PMC10442269 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-023-01815-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Revised: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 07/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
The efficiency of aposematic colouration of prey is based on the innate bias or facilitation of avoidance learning of predators. In many toxic bufonids, larvae are uniformly black, which is considered a warning signal. We compared fish predation on normal (black) and 'transient albino' (greyish) common toad Bufo bufo tadpoles that did not differ in toxicity or activity. In a two-stage experiment, each fish was presented with tadpoles of one colour in the first trial and the other colour in a subsequent trial. While tadpoles sampled by fish were typically not ingested, some died from injuries. The attack rate did not differ between tadpole phenotypes nor trials, irrespective of which phenotype was the first exposed to the fish. However, during the second trial, the sampled tadpoles, independent of colouration, were mouthed by fish for shorter periods and tadpole mortality decreased. The duration of mouthing also declined with an increasing number of attacks during subsequent trials. We conclude that in single-species prey populations, black tadpole colouration is not a warning signal as it does not accelerate predator learning about prey unprofitability. Our results indicate that with growing experience, predators sample potentially toxic prey more cautiously. This may explain why natural selection does not eliminate aposematic morphs even if predators continuously sample conspicuous prey.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikołaj Kaczmarski
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71 C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland
| | - Jan M Kaczmarek
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71 C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland
- Landscape Parks of Greater Poland Voivodeship, Piekary 17, 61-823, Poznań, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Kowalski
- Department of Vertebrate Zoology and Ecology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Lwowska 1, 87-100, Toruń, Poland
| | - Karol Borowski
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71 C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland
| | - Jacek Kęsy
- Chair of Plant Physiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Faculty of Biological and Veterinary Sciences, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Lwowska 1, 87-100, Toruń, Poland
| | - Janusz Kloskowski
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71 C, 60-625, Poznań, Poland.
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Bashinskiy IW, Dgebuadze YY, Sushchik NN, Osipov VV, Gladyshev MI. Spadefoot Pelobates vespertinus (Amphibia, Pelobatidae) as a transmitter of fatty acids from water to land in a forest-steppe floodplain. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2023; 877:162819. [PMID: 36931523 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.162819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2023] [Revised: 03/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The transfer of biomass and polyunsaturated fatty acids by the spadefoot P. vespertinus (previously subspecies of P. fuscus) from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems was studied for five years in small floodplain water bodies of a forest-steppe zone. Average emergence of metamorphs from unit of water area, wet mass was 6.7 g m-2 year-1. A ratio of the emergence to biomass was calculated and represented as E/B coefficient (an analog of P/B production/biomass coefficient). The average E/B was found to be 0.038 year-1. The introduced coefficient can be used for a coarse estimation of the emergence on the basis of tadpole biomass measurements. A considerable partitioning of tadpoles and metamorphs in the composition of fatty acids in their biomass was revealed. Tadpoles had significantly higher mean levels (percent of total fatty acids) of 16:0, 16:1n-9, 18:0, 20:5n-3 and 22:5n-3, while metamorphs had significantly higher levels of 14:0, 15:0, 17:0, 17:1n-8, 18:2n-6, 20:2n-6, 20:4n-6 and 22:5n-6, likely due to the shifting to terrestrial food. Metamorphs had significantly higher content of total fatty acids, mg g-1 of wet weight, and, in spite of lower level, they had significantly higher content of eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n-3, EPA) than tadpoles. Metamorphs also had significantly higher content of docosahexaenoic acid (22:6n-3, DHA) and sum of EPA + DHA than tadpoles. Average flux of EPA + DHA from unit of water area with metamorphs was 3.27 mg m-2 year-1. The metamorphs appeared to be qualitatively and quantitatively prominent prey for a number of terrestrial consumers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan W Bashinskiy
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Leninsky pr. 33, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Yury Yu Dgebuadze
- Severtsov Institute of Ecology and Evolution, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119071, Leninsky pr. 33, Moscow, Russia; Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
| | - Nadezhda N Sushchik
- Institute of Biophysics, Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center" of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia; Siberian Federal University, Svobodny av. 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
| | - Vitaly V Osipov
- State Nature Reserve Privolzhskaya, Lesostep, 440031, Penza, Okruzhnaya 12A, Russia; Saratov Branch of Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, Chernyshevskogo 152, Saratov 410002, Russia
| | - Michail I Gladyshev
- Institute of Biophysics, Federal Research Center "Krasnoyarsk Scientific Center" of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia; Siberian Federal University, Svobodny av. 79, Krasnoyarsk, 660041, Russia
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Kaczmarek JM, Kaczmarski M, Mazurkiewicz J, Kloskowski J. Forget the toad and eat the frog: no associational protection against fish from a chemically defended toad to a later-breeding anuran species. ETHOL ECOL EVOL 2022. [DOI: 10.1080/03949370.2021.1967455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Jan M. Kaczmarek
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, Poznań 60-625, Poland
| | - Mikołaj Kaczmarski
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, Poznań 60-625, Poland
| | - Jan Mazurkiewicz
- Department of Inland Fisheries and Aquaculture, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, Poznań 60-625, Poland
| | - Janusz Kloskowski
- Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71C, Poznań 60-625, Poland
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Kaczmarski M, Kaczmarek JM, Jankowiak Ł, Kolenda K, Tryjanowski P. Digit ratio in the common toad Bufo bufo: the effects of reduced fingers and of age dependency. ZOOLOGICAL LETTERS 2021; 7:5. [PMID: 33766147 PMCID: PMC7992345 DOI: 10.1186/s40851-021-00174-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2020] [Accepted: 03/11/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Despite the growing number of studies describing digit ratio patterns in tetrapods, knowledge concerning certain basic issues is still scarce. In lower vertebrates such as tailless amphibians (Anura), the numbering of individual fingers on the forelimbs and their homology with the fingers of other vertebrates pose an unsolved problem. Based on reviewed data on anuran limb development, we argue that the correct finger numbering scheme should be based on the assumption that the first finger, not the fifth finger, was reduced on the forelimbs. We analyzed the digit ratio in the common toad (Bufo bufo, Bufonidae), a species characterized by well-developed sexual dimorphism whereby females are larger than males, using both numbering schemes present in the literature. RESULTS We found that the digit ratio on hindlimbs differed significantly between the sexes only in the cases of left 2D:3D, with lower digit ratios in females, and of left 3D:4D, with lower digit ratios in males. We found that sex was the only significant variable for forelimbs, differentiating 2D:3D on the left forelimb, with lower digit ratios in females; 2D:4D on the right forelimb, with lower digit ratios in males; and 3D:4D on both forelimbs, with lower digit ratios in males. These results relate to variant II reflecting the hypothesis that the first digit was reduced during phylogenesis. There was no relationship between the body size (SVL) of individuals and any digit ratio, excluding 2D:4D on the right forelimbs in models with age variables. Additionally, for a subset of data where individual age was known, the models indicated that age was linked to significant differences in 2D:4D and 3D:4D on the left hindlimbs, while age, SVL, and sex influenced 2D:4D on the right forelimbs. CONCLUSION We emphasize the importance of the problem of the correct numbering of forelimb digits in Anura and, under the assumption that it was the fifth digit that was reduced, argue that earlier results on digit ratio in this group should be interpreted with caution. The detected relationship between digit ratio and age in amphibians expands our knowledge, indicating that the age of individuals should be included in future digit ratio studies. This relationship may also apply to studies using digit ratio as a noninvasive indicator of endocrine disruption in amphibians.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mikołaj Kaczmarski
- Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71c, PL 60-625 Poznań, Poland
| | - Jan M. Kaczmarek
- Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71c, PL 60-625 Poznań, Poland
| | - Łukasz Jankowiak
- Institute of Biology, University of Szczecin, Wąska 13, PL 71-415 Szczecin, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Kolenda
- Amphibian Biology Group, Department of Evolutionary Biology and Conservation of Vertebrates, Institute of Environmental Biology, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, PL 50-335 Wrocław, Poland
| | - Piotr Tryjanowski
- Institute of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 71c, PL 60-625 Poznań, Poland
- Faculty of Environmental Sciences, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Kamýcká 129, 165 00 Prague 6, Czech Republic
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Kaczmarek JM, Kaczmarski M, Mazurkiewicz J, Kloskowski J. Numbers, neighbors, and hungry predators: What makes chemically defended aposematic prey susceptible to predation? Ecol Evol 2020; 10:13705-13716. [PMID: 33391674 PMCID: PMC7771146 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6956] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Revised: 09/17/2020] [Accepted: 09/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Many chemically defended aposematic species are characterized by relatively low toxin levels, which enables predators to include them in their diets under certain circumstances. Knowledge of the conditions governing the survival of such prey animals-especially in the context of the co-occurrence of similar but undefended prey, which may result in mimicry-like interactions-is crucial for understanding the initial evolution of aposematism. In a one-month outdoor experiment using fish (the common carp Cyprinus carpio) as predators, we examined the survival of moderately defended aposematic tadpole prey (the European common toad Bufo bufo) with varying absolute densities in single-species prey systems or varying relative densities in two-species prey systems containing morphologically similar but undefended prey (the European common frog Rana temporaria). The density effects were investigated in conjunction with the hunger levels of the predator, which were manipulated by means of the addition of alternative (nontadpole) food. The survival of the B. bufo tadpoles was promoted by increasing their absolute density in the single-species prey systems, increasing their relative density in the two-species prey systems, and providing ample alternative food for the predator. Hungry predators eliminated all R. temporaria individuals regardless of their proportion in the prey community; in treatments with ample alternative food, high relative B. bufo density supported R. temporaria survival. The results demonstrated that moderately defended prey did benefit from high population densities (both absolute and relative), even under long-term predation pressure. However, the physiological state of the predator was a crucial factor in the survival of moderately defended prey. While the availability of alternative prey in general should promote the spread and maintenance of aposematism, the results indicated that the resemblance between the co-occurring defended and undefended prey may impose mortality costs on the defended model species, even in the absence of actual mimicry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan M. Kaczmarek
- Department of ZoologyPoznań University of Life SciencesPoznańPoland
| | | | - Jan Mazurkiewicz
- Department of Inland Fisheries and AquaculturePoznań University of Life SciencesPoznańPoland
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