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Maternal predation risk increases offspring's exploration but does not affect schooling behavior

Cattelan, Silvia ; Herbert-Read, James LU orcid ; Panizzon, Paolo ; Devigili, Alessandro ; Griggio, Matteo ; Pilastro, Andrea and Morosinotto, Chiara LU (2020) In Behavioral Ecology 31(5). p.1207-1217
Abstract

The environment that parents experience can influence their reproductive output and their offspring's fitness via parental effects. Perceived predation risk can affect both parent and offspring phenotype, but it remains unclear to what extent offspring behavioral traits are affected when the mother is exposed to predation risk. This is particularly unclear in live-bearing species where maternal effects could occur during embryogenesis. Here, using a half-sib design to control for paternal effects, we experimentally exposed females of a live-bearing fish, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), to visual predator cues and conspecific alarm cues during their gestation. Females exposed to predation risk cues increased their antipredator behaviors... (More)

The environment that parents experience can influence their reproductive output and their offspring's fitness via parental effects. Perceived predation risk can affect both parent and offspring phenotype, but it remains unclear to what extent offspring behavioral traits are affected when the mother is exposed to predation risk. This is particularly unclear in live-bearing species where maternal effects could occur during embryogenesis. Here, using a half-sib design to control for paternal effects, we experimentally exposed females of a live-bearing fish, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), to visual predator cues and conspecific alarm cues during their gestation. Females exposed to predation risk cues increased their antipredator behaviors throughout the entire treatment. Offspring of mothers exposed to the predation stimuli exhibited more pronounced exploratory behavior, but did not show any significant differences in their schooling behavior, compared to controls. Thus, while maternally perceived risk affected offspring's exploration during early stages of life, offspring's schooling behavior could be influenced more by direct environmental experience rather than via maternal cues. Our results suggest a rather limited role in predator-induced maternal effects on the behavior of juvenile guppies.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Antipredator behavior, Exploration, Intergenerational effects, Maternal effects, Nonlethal effects, Poecilia reticulata, Schooling
in
Behavioral Ecology
volume
31
issue
5
pages
11 pages
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85096290246
ISSN
1045-2249
DOI
10.1093/beheco/araa071
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
3621a936-5d85-4a93-a3e2-a34dd1dfb7d8
date added to LUP
2020-12-02 13:01:50
date last changed
2022-04-26 22:15:47
@article{3621a936-5d85-4a93-a3e2-a34dd1dfb7d8,
  abstract     = {{<p>The environment that parents experience can influence their reproductive output and their offspring's fitness via parental effects. Perceived predation risk can affect both parent and offspring phenotype, but it remains unclear to what extent offspring behavioral traits are affected when the mother is exposed to predation risk. This is particularly unclear in live-bearing species where maternal effects could occur during embryogenesis. Here, using a half-sib design to control for paternal effects, we experimentally exposed females of a live-bearing fish, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), to visual predator cues and conspecific alarm cues during their gestation. Females exposed to predation risk cues increased their antipredator behaviors throughout the entire treatment. Offspring of mothers exposed to the predation stimuli exhibited more pronounced exploratory behavior, but did not show any significant differences in their schooling behavior, compared to controls. Thus, while maternally perceived risk affected offspring's exploration during early stages of life, offspring's schooling behavior could be influenced more by direct environmental experience rather than via maternal cues. Our results suggest a rather limited role in predator-induced maternal effects on the behavior of juvenile guppies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Cattelan, Silvia and Herbert-Read, James and Panizzon, Paolo and Devigili, Alessandro and Griggio, Matteo and Pilastro, Andrea and Morosinotto, Chiara}},
  issn         = {{1045-2249}},
  keywords     = {{Antipredator behavior; Exploration; Intergenerational effects; Maternal effects; Nonlethal effects; Poecilia reticulata; Schooling}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{5}},
  pages        = {{1207--1217}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{Behavioral Ecology}},
  title        = {{Maternal predation risk increases offspring's exploration but does not affect schooling behavior}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/beheco/araa071}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/beheco/araa071}},
  volume       = {{31}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}