ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2804-9979
Current Organisation
University of Montreal
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Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-03-2020
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 10-11-2015
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-10-2013
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-013-2794-5
Abstract: Wave-driven water flow is a major force structuring marine communities. Species distributions are partly determined by the ability to cope with variation in water flow, such as differences in the assemblage of fish species found in a given water flow environment being linked to swimming ability (based on fin shape and mode of locomotion). It remains unclear, however, whether similar assembly rules apply within a species. Here we show phenotypic variation among sites in traits functionally linked to swimming ability in the damselfish Acanthochromis polyacanthus. These sites differ in wave energy and the observed patterns of phenotypic differences within A. polyacanthus closely mirrored those seen at the interspecific level. Fish from high-exposure sites had more tapered fins and higher maximum metabolic rates than conspecifics from sheltered sites. This translates to a 36% larger aerobic scope and 33% faster critical swimming speed for fish from exposed sites. Our results suggest that functional relationships among swimming phenotypes and water flow not only structure species assemblages, but can also shape patterns of phenotypic ergence within species. Close links between locomotor phenotype and local water flow conditions appear to be important for species distributions as well as phenotypic ergence across environmental gradients.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 27-05-2014
DOI: 10.1111/ETH.12257
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.169615
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 04-2016
DOI: 10.1086/685386
Abstract: Migration, a widespread animal behavior, can influence how in iduals acquire and transmit pathogens. Past work has demonstrated that migration can reduce the costs of pathogen or parasite infection through two processes: migratory escape from infected areas or in iduals and migratory culling of infected in iduals. Here, we propose a third process: migratory recovery, where infected in iduals lose their parasites and recover from infection during migration. Recovery can occur when parasites and/or their intermediate hosts cannot support changes in the migratory host's internal or external environment during migration. Thus, parasite mortality increases with migration. Although migratory recovery is likely widespread across species, it remains challenging to empirically test it as a selective force promoting migration. We develop a model and determine the conditions under which migratory recovery theoretically favors the evolution of migration. We show that incorporating migratory recovery into a model of migratory escape increases the range of biologically realistic conditions favoring migration and leads to scenarios where partial migration can evolve. Motivated by empirical estimates of infection costs, our model shows how recovery from infection could drive the evolution of migration. We suggest a number of future directions for both theoretical and empirical research in this area.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-2023
Abstract: Researchers studying animal phenotypes often overlook the potential influence of parasites hiding inside their study organisms. Yet, most wild animals host parasites, which can alter in idual phenotypes (e.g. morphology, physiology, behaviour). Infection‐induced phenotypes stem from several nonmutually exclusive mechanisms (i.e. adaptive host defences, infection‐induced debilitation and host manipulation by parasites), driven by parasites and/or hosts. Changes in host phenotype can impact all levels of biological organization, from cells to communities. The nature and magnitude of these effects can vary depending on the biotic and abiotic environmental factors experienced by hosts and parasites. This special feature highlights recent insights into the ways parasites alter host phenotypes across a range of systems. Here, we contextualize how each contribution expands our knowledge of the role of parasites in driving in idual variation in animal phenotypes. Looking to the future, we need to better understand how infection‐induced phenotypes fluctuate with natural variation in infection (e.g. infection intensity, coinfection) and whether studies in laboratory‐based environments provide strong proxies for host–parasite interactions in the wild. The time is ripe to acknowledge, critique and discuss the implications of infection on host phenotypes across taxonomic boundaries and biological levels of organization. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 26-10-2021
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2010
DOI: 10.1111/J.1749-4877.2010.00209.X
Abstract: Interspecific studies have demonstrated that trophic morphology and ecology are not always tightly matched: a phenomenon rarely reported at the intraspecific level. In the present study, we explored relationships among diet, morphology and the environment in a widespread cichlid fish, Astatoreochromis alluaudi (Pellegrin 1904), from 6 sites in southern Uganda to test for evidence of eco-morphological matching at the interdemic level. Previous studies of Astatoreochromis alluaudi have demonstrated developmental plasticity in trophic morphology in response to diet: a mollusk diet produces specimens with large pharyngeal jaws and muscles, whereas a soft-food diet produces smaller pharyngeal jaws and corresponding changes in musculature. Sites were chosen to maximize variability in environmental variables that might directly or indirectly affect trophic morphology. We found significant differences in pharyngeal jaw and muscle morphology among populations. Similarly, we found differences in diets among sites: mollusks were found in the stomachs of fish from only 2 populations s led, despite the presence of mollusks in 5 of the 6 sites. Although trophic morphology did match the observed diet in 2 sites, diet did not correlate with either morphology or environmental variables across sites, nor were environmental variables correlated with morphological variation among sites. These results suggest that mismatch can occur among different populations of a single species for reasons such as seasonality in resources, developmental plasticity and/or complex indirect interactions. Intraspecific mechanisms should be further studied in order to better understand the complex relationships between morphological specialization and ecological generalization.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-07128-5
Abstract: Adjusting one’s behaviour in response to eavesdropping bystanders is considered a sophisticated social strategy, yet the underlying mechanisms are not well studied. Cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus , cooperate by eating ectoparasites off “client” fishes, or cheat (i.e. bite) and eat client mucus. Image scoring by bystander clients generally causes cleaners from socially-complex (i.e. high cleaner and client abundance high client species richness) habitats to increase levels of cooperation. However, some in iduals may periodically provide tactile stimulation to small resident clients, which attract bystanders close that are bitten, a form of tactical deception. Cortisol injection can reproduce this pattern. Here, we tested whether cleaners from socially-complex versus simple habitats respond differently to cortisol injections in terms of their cleaning interactions with clients. We found that only cleaners from the socially-complex habitat respond to cortisol injection with strategies functioning as tactical deception: i.e. increased tactile stimulation to small clients and increased cheating of large clients relative to small ones. At the socially-simple site, where reputation management is less important, cortisol-treated fish increased their overall levels of cheating, especially of small clients. Thus, strategic adjustments to cooperative behaviour and tactical deception are likely context-dependent, forming part of general reputation management abilities in cleaner wrasse.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-06-2010
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 13-05-2020
DOI: 10.1029/2020GL087830
Abstract: An analysis of Argo data reveals that the subantarctic mode water (SAMW) in the South Indian Ocean (SIO), characterized by a vertical potential vorticity (PV) minimum, decreases by 10% in volume from 2004 to 2018. Most of this decrease occurs at the 26.8–26.9 kg m −3 density range which forms southwest of Australia, while a slight volume increase occurs at 26.6–26.8 kg m −3 . Further analysis indicates that the weakening of the Mascarene High and westerly winds in the SIO reduces the evaporation‐precipitation, surface heat flux, and Ekman pumping and shoals the mixed layer southwest of Australia, which leads to a volume decrease at 26.8–26.9 kg m −3 in approximately 3 years. West of 90°E, the parameters exhibit the opposite change, leading to a volume increase at 26.6–26.8 kg m −3 . This result suggests that surface winds play an important role in the variability of the SIO SAMW volume during the Argo period.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-09-2023
DOI: 10.1111/ELE.14301
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 09-05-2018
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.4745
Abstract: Testing performance in controlled laboratory experiments is a powerful tool for understanding the extent and evolution of cognitive abilities in non-human animals. However, cognitive testing is prone to a number of potential biases, which, if unnoticed or unaccounted for, may affect the conclusions drawn. We examined whether slight modifications to the experimental procedure and apparatus used in a spatial task and reversal learning task affected performance outcomes in the bluestreak cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus (hereafter “cleaners”). Using two-alternative forced-choice tests, fish had to learn to associate a food reward with a side (left or right) in their holding aquarium. In iduals were tested in one of four experimental treatments that differed slightly in procedure and/or physical set-up. Cleaners from all four treatment groups were equally able to solve the initial spatial task. However, groups differed in their ability to solve the reversal learning task: no in iduals solved the reversal task when tested in small tanks with a transparent partition separating the two options, whereas over 50% of in iduals solved the task when performed in a larger tank, or with an opaque partition. These results clearly show that seemingly insignificant details to the experimental set-up matter when testing performance in a spatial task and might significantly influence the outcome of experiments. These results echo previous calls for researchers to exercise caution when designing methodologies for cognition tasks to avoid misinterpretations.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.085811
Abstract: Unsteady water flows are common in nature, yet the swimming performance of fishes is typically evaluated at constant, steady speeds in the laboratory. We examined how cyclic changes in water flow velocity affect the swimming performance and energetics of a labriform swimmer, the shiner surfperch, Cymatogaster aggregata. Using intermittent-flow respirometry, we measured critical swimming speed (Ucrit), oxygen consumption rate (ṀO2) and pectoral fin use in steady flow versus unsteady flows with either low (0.5 body lengths per second BLs-1) or high litude (1.0 BLs-1) velocity fluctuations, with a 5 s period. In iduals in low litude unsteady flow performed as well as fish in steady flow. However, swimming costs in high litude unsteady flow were on average 25.3 % higher than in steady flow and 14.2% higher than estimated values obtained from simulations based on the non-linear relationship between swimming speed and oxygen consumption rate in steady flow. Time-averaged pectoral fin use (fin beat frequency measured over 300 s) was similar among treatments. However, measures of instantaneous fin use (fin beat period) and body movement in high litude unsteady flow indicate that in iduals with greater variation in the duration of their fin beats were better at holding station and consumed less oxygen than fish with low variation in fin beat period. These results suggest that the costs of swimming in unsteady flows are context dependent in labriform swimmers, and may be influenced by in idual differences in the ability of fishes to adjust their fin beats to the flow environment.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1515/AP-2017-0082
Abstract: During a parasitological survey of perciform fishes from Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia, we found the following gill monogenoidean species (Platyhelminthes):
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-06-2013
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-03-2018
Abstract: Cleaning organisms play a fundamental ecological role by removing ectoparasites and infected tissue from client surfaces. We used the well-studied cleaning mutualisms involving the cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus, to test how client cognition is affected by ectoparasites and whether these effects are mitigated by cleaners. Ambon damselfish ( Pomacentrus amboinensis) collected from experimental reef patches without cleaner wrasse performed worse in a visual discrimination test than conspecifics from patches with cleaners. Endoparasite abundance also negatively influenced success in this test. Visual discrimination performance was also impaired in damselfish experimentally infected with gnathiid (Crustacea: Isopoda) ectoparasites. Neither cleaner absence nor gnathiid infection affected performance in spatial recognition or reversal learning tests. Injection with immune-stimulating lipopolysaccharide did not affect visual discrimination performance relative to saline-injected controls, suggesting that cognitive impairments are not due to an innate immune response. Our results highlight the complex, indirect role of cleaning organisms in promoting the health of their clients via ectoparasite removal and emphasize the negative impact of parasites on host's cognitive abilities.
Publisher: California Digital Library (CDL)
Date: 18-05-2021
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-01-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2014
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 20-03-2023
Abstract: Ongoing environmental changes alter how natural selection shapes animal migration. Understanding how these changes play out theoretically can be done using evolutionary game theoretic (EGT) approaches, such as looking for evolutionarily stable strategies. Here, we first describe historical patterns of how EGT models have explored different drivers of migration. We find that there are substantial gaps in both the taxa (mammals, hibians, reptiles, insects) and mechanisms (mutualism, interspecific competition) included in past EGT models of migration. Although enemy interactions, including parasites, are increasingly considered in models of animal migration, they remain the least studied of factors for migration considered to date. Furthermore, few papers look at changes in migration in response to perturbations (e.g. climate change, new species interactions). To address this gap, we present a new EGT model to understand how infection with a novel parasite changes host migration. We find three possible outcomes when migrants encounter novel parasites: maintenance of migration (despite the added infection cost), loss of migration (evolutionary shift to residency) or population collapse, depending on the risk and cost of getting infected, and the cost currency. Our work demonstrates how emerging infection can alter animal behaviour such as migration. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Half a century of evolutionary games: a synthesis of theory, application and future directions’.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 18-05-2022
Abstract: Many leading journals in ecology and evolution now mandate open data upon publication. Yet, there is very little oversight to ensure the completeness and reusability of archived datasets, and we currently have a poor understanding of the factors associated with high-quality data sharing. We assessed 362 open datasets linked to first- or senior-authored papers published by 100 principal investigators (PIs) in the fields of ecology and evolution over a period of 7 years to identify predictors of data completeness and reusability (data archiving quality). Datasets scored low on these metrics: 56.4% were complete and 45.9% were reusable. Data reusability, but not completeness, was slightly higher for more recently archived datasets and PIs with less seniority. Journal open data policy, PI gender and PI corresponding author status were unrelated to data archiving quality. However, PI identity explained a large proportion of the variance in data completeness (27.8%) and reusability (22.0%), indicating consistent inter-in idual differences in data sharing practices by PIs across time and contexts. Several PIs consistently shared data of either high or low archiving quality, but most PIs were inconsistent in how well they shared. One explanation for the high intra-in idual variation we observed is that PIs often conduct research through students and postdoctoral researchers, who may be responsible for the data collection, curation and archiving. Levels of data literacy vary among trainees and PIs may not regularly perform quality control over archived files. Our findings suggest that research data management training and culture within a PI's group are likely to be more important determinants of data archiving quality than other factors such as a journal's open data policy. Greater incentives and training for in idual researchers at all career stages could improve data sharing practices and enhance data transparency and reusability.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 10-2013
DOI: 10.1038/502171A
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 20-06-2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 18-12-2022
Abstract: Wild animals have parasites. This inconvenient truth has far‐reaching implications for biologists measuring animal performance traits: infection with parasites can alter host behaviour and physiology in profound and sometimes counterintuitive ways. Yet, to what extent do studies on wild animals take in idual infection status into account? We performed a systematic review across eight scientific journals primarily publishing studies in animal behaviour and physiology over a 5‐year period to assess the proportion of studies which acknowledge, treat or control for parasite infection in their study design and/or analyses. We explored whether parasite inclusion differed between studies that are experimental versus observational, conducted in the field vs the laboratory and measured behavioural vs physiological traits. We also investigated the importance of other factors such as the journal, the trait category (e.g. locomotion, reproduction) measured, the vertebrate taxonomic group investigated and the host climatic zone of origin. Our results show that parasite inclusion was generally lacking across recent studies on wild vertebrates. In over 680 filtered papers, we found that only 21.9% acknowledged the potential effects of infections on animal performance in the text, and only 5.1% of studies treated animals for infection (i.e. parasite control) or considered infection status in the statistical analyses (i.e. parasite analysis). Parasite inclusion, control and analysis were higher in laboratory compared to field studies and higher for physiological studies compared to behavioural studies but did not differ among journals, performance trait categories and taxonomic groups. Among climatic zones, parasite inclusion, control and analysis were higher in tropical, subtropical and temperate zones than in boreal and polar zones. Overall, our literature review suggests that parasites are sorely under‐acknowledged by researchers in recent years despite growing evidence that infections can modify animal performance. Given the ubiquity of parasites in the environment, we encourage scientists to consider in idual infection status when assessing performance of wild animals. We also suggest ways for researchers to implement such practices in both experimental and observational studies.
Publisher: Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Date: 10-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 31-07-2022
Abstract: Within the same population, proactive (i.e. bolder, more exploratory, active and aggressive) and reactive (i.e. more timid, less exploratory, less active and more passive) in iduals could be hypothetically maintained due a trade‐off between foraging and vigilance behaviours, provided that both phenotypes differ in their state (e.g. metabolic rates, body condition or energetic needs). Yet, recent findings indicate that among‐in idual variation in intrinsic state can explain only a small proportion of variation in behaviour, meaning that other mechanisms, such as the presence of trophically transmitted parasites, might contribute to maintaining inter‐in idual behavioural differences. Empirical evidence, indeed, suggests strong relationships between certain animal personality traits and parasitic load within host populations. However, the direction of causation between these traits remains unclear: are different behaviours in infected hosts in contrast to uninfected ones the result of manipulation by parasites to increase host predation, or are some personalities inherently more susceptible to infection than others? To better understand the role of parasites in shaping behavioural differences within host populations and examine to what extent parasite manipulation and/or intrinsic differences in parasite susceptibility contribute to maintaining behavioural differences, we used a simulation approach and analysed the change in the frequencies of proactive and reactive in iduals over time under different predation and starvation scenarios, when in idual phenotype either affected a host's risk of infection or not. We found that in the absence of parasites, predation pressure strongly affected the expression of host personality, but the trade‐off between foraging and vigilance behaviours alone could not explain the maintenance of inter‐in idual behavioural differences without temporal variation in predation pressure. By contrast, in the presence of parasites, the two host phenotypes could coexist within populations even when in iduals experienced no temporal variations in predation risk, but only when proactive and reactive hosts were equally susceptible to parasitism. Our findings, thus, indicate that parasites can play an important role in maintaining genetic ersity in their host populations in addition to generating behavioural differences though manipulation.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-06-2008
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 22-06-2018
DOI: 10.1029/2018GL078265
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2023
Abstract: Aquatic ectotherms are vulnerable to thermal stress, with embryos predicted to be more sensitive than juveniles and adults. When examining the vulnerability of species and life stages to warming, comparable methodology must be used to obtain robust conclusions. Critical thermal methodology is commonly used to characterize acute thermal tolerances in fishes, with critical thermal maximum (CTmax) referring to the acute upper thermal tolerance limit. At this temperature, fish exhibit loss of controlled locomotion due to a temperature-induced collapse of vital physiological functions. While it is relatively easy to monitor behavioural responses and measure CTmax in larval and adult fish, this is more challenging in embryos, leading to a lack of data on this life stage, or that studies rely on potentially incomparable metrics. Here, we present a novel method for measuring CTmax in fish embryos, defined by the temperature at which embryos stop moving. Additionally, we compare this measurement with the temperature of the embryos’ last heartbeat, which has previously been proposed as a method for measuring embryonic CTmax. We found that, like other life stages, late-stage embryos exhibited a period of increased activity, peaking approximately 2–3°C before CTmax. Measurements of CTmax based on last movement are more conservative and easier to record in later developmental stages than measurements based on last heartbeat, and they also work well with large and small embryos. Importantly, CTmax measurements based on last movement in embryos are similar to measurements from larvae and adults based on loss of locomotory control. Using last heartbeat as CTmax in embryos likely overestimates acute thermal tolerance, as the heart is still beating when loss of response/equilibrium is reached in larvae/adults. The last movement technique described here allows for comparisons of acute thermal tolerance of embryos between species and across life stages, and as a response variable to treatments.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.130252
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 03-2015
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.112086
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2009
DOI: 10.1111/J.1095-8649.2009.02421.X
Abstract: The stable isotope ratio and seasonal changes in diet of Alluaud's haplo Astatoreochromis alluaudi, a cichlid fish with massive pharyngeal jaws well known for its ability to process hard-bodied prey, are described. The diet of A. alluaudi was quantified in Lake Saka, Uganda, over a period of 30 months. Variation in physico-chemical variables (mean monthly rainfall, water temperature, turbidity and dissolved oxygen), as well as potential competitor density and food abundance, was measured throughout the second half of the study (14 months). Stomach contents and isotope analysis revealed a diet comprised mainly of fishes and insects, with a low contribution of molluscs (0-33%) in any given month. No correlation was detected between diet and either macroinvertebrate abundance or competitor abundance. The running average rainfall was positively related to the percentage of fish consumed per month. Although A. alluaudi exhibits an apparent molluscivorous trophic morphology in Lake Saka, molluscs did not appear to compose a major portion of its diet. Gradients of rainfall seemed to be the most important environmental predictor of diet choice in Lake Saka. These results are discussed with reference to Liem's Paradox that apparently morphologically specialized fishes often function as generalist feeders in the wild.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 20-07-2022
Abstract: Historical and long-term environmental datasets are imperative to understanding how natural systems respond to our changing world. Although immensely valuable, these data are at risk of being lost unless actively curated and archived in data repositories. The practice of data rescue, which we define as identifying, preserving, and sharing valuable data and associated metadata at risk of loss, is an important means of ensuring the long-term viability and accessibility of such datasets. Improvements in policies and best practices around data management will hopefully limit future need for data rescue these changes, however, do not apply retroactively. While rescuing data is not new, the term lacks formal definition, is often conflated with other terms (i.e. data reuse), and lacks general recommendations. Here, we outline seven key guidelines for effective rescue of historically collected and unmanaged datasets. We discuss prioritization of datasets to rescue, forming effective data rescue teams, preparing the data and associated metadata, and archiving and sharing the rescued materials. In an era of rapid environmental change, the best policy solutions will require evidence from both contemporary and historical sources. It is, therefore, imperative that we identify and preserve valuable, at-risk environmental data before they are lost to science.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.146712
Abstract: Animal ‘personality’, defined as repeatable inter-in idual differences in behaviour, is a concept in biology that faces intense controversy. Critics argue that the field is riddled with terminological and methodological inconsistencies and lacks a sound theoretical framework. Nevertheless, experimental biologists are increasingly studying in idual differences in physiology and relating these to differences in behaviour, which can lead to fascinating insights. We encourage this trend, and in this Commentary we highlight some of the benefits of estimating variation in (and covariation among) phenotypic traits at the inter- and intra-in idual levels. We focus on behaviour while drawing parallels with physiological and performance-related traits. First, we outline some of the confusion surrounding the terminology used to describe repeatable inter-in idual differences in behaviour. Second, we argue that acknowledging in idual behavioural differences can help researchers avoid s ling and experimental bias, increase explanatory power and, ultimately, understand how selection acts on physiological traits. Third, we summarize the latest methods to collect, analyse and present data on in idual trait variation. We note that, while measuring the repeatability of phenotypic traits is informative in its own right, it is only the first step towards understanding how natural selection and genetic architecture shape intra-specific variation in complex, labile traits. Thus, understanding how and why behavioural traits evolve requires linking repeatable inter-in idual behavioural differences with core aspects of physiology (e.g. neurophysiology, endocrinology, energy metabolism) and evolutionary biology (e.g. selection gradients, heritability).
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 20-09-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.09.19.508536
Abstract: Parasites can affect host behavior, cognition, locomotion, body condition and many other physiological traits. Changes to host aerobic metabolism are likely responsible for these parasite-induced performance alterations. Whole-organism metabolic rate is underpinned by cellular energy metabolism driven most prominently by the mitochondria. However, few studies have explored how mitochondrial enzymatic activity relates to body condition and parasite infection despite being a putative site for metabolic disruptions related to health status. We studied correlations among natural parasite infection, host body condition and the activity of key mitochondrial enzymes in target organs from wild-caught pumpkinseed sunfish ( Lepomis gibbosus ) to better understand the cellular responses of fish hosts to endoparasite infection. Enzymatic activities in the gills, spleen, and brain of infected fish were not significantly related to parasite infection or host body condition. However, the activity of cytochrome C oxidase, an enzyme involved in oxidative phosphorylation, in fish hearts was higher in in iduals with lower body condition. Activities of citrate synthase, complexes I and III and carnitine palmitoyltransferase were also significantly different among organ types. These results provide preliminary information regarding the likely mitochondrial pathways affecting host body condition, the maintenance energetic requirements of different organs and their specific dependency on particular mitochondrial pathways. These results help pave the way for future studies on the effects of parasite infection on mitochondrial metabolism.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.112219
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-07-2019
Abstract: Most studies on the evolution of migration focus on food, mates and/or climate as factors influencing these movements, whereas negative species interactions such as predators, parasites and pathogens are often ignored. Although infection and its associated costs clearly have the potential to influence migration, thoroughly studying these interactions is challenging without a solid theoretical framework from which to develop testable predictions in natural systems. Here, we aim to understand when parasites favour the evolution of migration. We develop a general model which enables us to explore a broad range of biological conditions and to capture population and infection dynamics over both ecological and evolutionary time-scales. We show that when migration evolves depends on whether the costs of migration and infection are paid in reduced fecundity or survival. Also important are the parasite transmission mode and spatiotemporal dynamics of infection and recovery (if it occurs). Finally, we find that partial migration (where only a fraction of the population migrates) can evolve but only when parasite transmission is density-dependent. Our results highlight the critical, if overlooked, role of parasites in shaping long-distance movement patterns, and suggest that infection should be considered alongside more traditional drivers of migration in both empirical and theoretical studies.
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1071/ZO12130
Abstract: Parasites are ubiquitous in nature but assessing their prevalence in wild fish populations is often challenging due to their cryptic nature. Low abundance can also hinder detailed studies. Here, we report a relatively high prevalence (4.3% range = 0–28%) of an ectoparasitic cymothoid isopod (Anilocra nemipteri) infecting the bridled monocle bream (Scolopsis bilineatus) on reefs surrounding Lizard Island on the northern Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The prevalence of infected and previously infected fish at this location was nearly 15%, which greatly exceeds reports from other localities on the GBR. At least one parasitised fish was observed at 75% of the reefs surveyed, although prevalence varied across sites. Parasitised S. bilineatus were, on average, 25% smaller than unparasitised or previously parasitised fish. Given that these parasites have known detrimental effects on host growth, survivorship and swimming ability, our observations suggest that A. nemipteri may influence the size structure of its host population in the wild. Since A. nemipteri is large, conspicuous and relatively abundant, it provides an ideal study system to examine a range of important questions on the evolutionary ecology of parasites.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-04-2013
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.112698
Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Date: 25-01-2022
DOI: 10.1101/2022.01.24.477519
Abstract: Wild animals have parasites that can compromise their physiological and/or behavioural performance. Yet, the extent to which parasite load is related to intraspecific variation in performance traits within wild populations remains relatively unexplored. We used pumpkinseed sunfish ( Lepomis gibbosus ) and their endoparasites as a model system to explore the effects of infection load on host aerobic metabolism and escape performance. Metabolic traits (standard and maximum metabolic rates, aerobic scope) and fast-start escape responses following a simulated aerial attack by a predator (responsiveness, response latency, and escape distance) were measured in fish from across a gradient of visible (i.e. trematodes causing black spot disease counted on fish surfaces) and non-visible (i.e. cestodes in fish abdominal cavity counted post-mortem) endoparasite infection. We found that a higher infection load of non-visible endoparasites was related to lower standard and maximum metabolic rates, but not aerobic scope in fish. Non-visible endoparasite infection load was also related to decreased responsiveness of the host to a simulated aerial attack. Visible endoparasites were not related to changes in metabolic traits nor fast-start escape responses. Our results suggest that infection with parasites that are inconspicuous to researchers can result in intraspecific variation in physiological and behavioral performance in wild populations, highlighting the need to more explicitly acknowledge and account for the role played by natural infections in studies of wild animal performance.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 08-2022
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.243160
Abstract: Wild animals have parasites that can compromise their physiological and/or behavioural performance. Yet, the extent to which parasite load is related to intraspecific variation in performance traits within wild populations remains relatively unexplored. We used pumpkinseed sunfish (Lepomis gibbosus) and their endoparasites as a model system to explore the effects of infection load on host aerobic metabolism and escape performance. Metabolic traits (standard and maximum metabolic rates, aerobic scope) and fast-start escape responses following a simulated aerial attack by a predator (responsiveness, response latency and escape distance) were measured in fish from across a gradient of visible (i.e. trematodes causing black spot disease counted on fish surfaces) and non-visible (i.e. cestodes in fish abdominal cavity counted post-mortem) endoparasite infection. We found that a higher infection load of non-visible endoparasites was related to lower standard and maximum metabolic rates, but not aerobic scope in fish. Non-visible endoparasite infection load was also related to decreased responsiveness of the host to a simulated aerial attack. Visible endoparasites were not related to changes in metabolic traits or fast-start escape responses. Our results suggest that infection with parasites that are inconspicuous to researchers can result in intraspecific variation in physiological and behavioural performance in wild populations, highlighting the need to more explicitly acknowledge and account for the role played by natural infections in studies of wild animal performance.
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 12-2015
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.1459
Abstract: Large disturbances can cause rapid degradation of coral reef communities, but what baseline changes in species assemblages occur on undisturbed reefs through time? We surveyed live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness in 1997 and again in 2007 on 47 fringing patch reefs of varying size and depth at Mersa Bareika, Ras Mohammed National Park, Egypt. No major human or natural disturbance event occurred between these two survey periods in this remote protected area. In the absence of large disturbances, we found that live coral cover, reef fish abundance and fish species richness did not differ in 1997 compared to 2007. Fish abundance and species richness on patches was largely related to the presence of shelters (caves and/or holes), live coral cover and patch size (volume). The presence of the ectoparasite-eating cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus , was also positively related to fish species richness. Our results underscore the importance of physical reef characteristics, such as patch size and shelter availability, in addition to biotic characteristics, such as live coral cover and cleaner wrasse abundance, in supporting reef fish species richness and abundance through time in a relatively undisturbed and understudied region.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2013
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.082925
Abstract: Metabolic rates of aquatic organisms are estimated from measurements of oxygen consumption rates (ṀO2) through swimming and resting respirometry. These distinct approaches are increasingly used in eco- and conservation physiology studies however, few studies have tested whether they yield comparable results. We examined whether two fundamental ṀO2 measures, standard metabolic rate (SMR) and maximum metabolic rate (MMR), vary based on the method employed. Ten bridled monocle bream (Scolopsis bilineatus) were exercised using (1) a critical swimming speed (Ucrit) protocol, (2) a 15 min exhaustive chase protocol and (3) a 3 min exhaustive chase protocol followed by brief air exposure. Protocol (1) was performed in a swimming respirometer whereas protocols (2) and (3) were followed by resting respirometry. SMR estimates in swimming respirometry were similar to those in resting respirometry when a three-parameter exponential or power function was used to extrapolate the swimming speed-ṀO2 relationship to zero swimming speed. In contrast, MMR using the Ucrit protocol was 36% higher than MMR derived from the 15 min chase protocol and 23% higher than MMR using the 3 min chase 1 min air exposure protocol. For strong steady (endurance) swimmers, such as S. bilineatus, swimming respirometry can produce more accurate MMR estimates than exhaustive chase protocols because oxygen consumption is measured during exertion. However, when swimming respirometry is impractical, exhaustive chase protocols should be supplemented with brief air exposure to improve measurement accuracy. Caution is warranted when comparing MMR estimates obtained with different respirometry methods unless they are cross-validated on a species-specific basis.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-05-2016
Abstract: Survival depends on appropriate behavioural and physiological responses to danger. In addition to active 'fight-flight' defence responses, a passive 'freeze-hide' response is adaptive in some contexts. However, the physiological mechanisms determining which in iduals choose a given defence response remain poorly understood. We examined the relationships among personality, metabolic performance and physiological stress responses across an environmental gradient in the olive flounder, Paralichthys olivaceus. We employed four behavioural assays to document the existence of two distinct behavioural types ('bold' and 'shy') in this species. We found consistent metabolic differences between in iduals of a given behavioural type across an environmental gradient: shy in iduals had overall lower aerobic scope, maximum metabolic rate and standard metabolic rate than bold in iduals in both high (25 ppt) and low (3 ppt) salinity. These behavioural and metabolic differences translated into ergent physiological responses during acute stress: shy in iduals adopted a passive 'freeze-hide' response by reducing their oxygen consumption rates (akin to shallow breathing) whereas bold in iduals adopted an active 'fight-flight' response by increasing their rates of respiration. These distinct defence strategies were repeatable within in iduals between salinity treatments. Although it has been suggested theoretically, this is the first empirical evidence that the metabolic response to stressful situations differs between bold and shy in iduals. Our results emphasize the importance of incorporating physiological measures to understand the mechanisms driving persistent inter-in idual differences in animals.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 23-02-2013
Abstract: Ectoparasites can reduce in idual fitness by negatively affecting behavioural, morphological and physiological traits. In fishes, there are potential costs if ectoparasites decrease streamlining, thereby directly compromising swimming performance. Few studies have examined the effects of ectoparasites on fish swimming performance and none distinguish between energetic costs imposed by changes in streamlining and effects on host physiology. The bridled monocle bream ( Scolopsis bilineatus ) is parasitized by an isopod ( Anilocra nemipteri), which attaches above the eye. We show that parasitized fish have higher standard metabolic rates (SMRs), poorer aerobic capacities and lower maximum swimming speeds than non-parasitized fish. Adding a model parasite did not affect SMR, but reduced maximum swimming speed and elevated oxygen consumption rates at high speeds to levels observed in naturally parasitized fish. This demonstrates that ectoparasites create drag effects that are important at high speeds. The higher SMR of naturally parasitized fish does, however, reveal an effect of parasitism on host physiology. This effect was easily reversed: fish whose parasite was removed 24 h earlier did not differ from unparasitized fish in any performance metrics. In sum, the main cost of this ectoparasite is probably its direct effect on streamlining, reducing swimming performance at high speeds.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 14-12-2022
Abstract: Commercial fishery harvest is a powerful evolutionary agent, but we know little about whether environmental stressors affect harvest-associated selection. We test how parasite infection relates to trapping vulnerability through selective processes underlying capture. We used fish naturally infected with parasites, including trematodes causing black spots under fish skin. We first assessed how in idual parasite density related to standard metabolic rate (SMR), maximum metabolic rate (MMR) and absolute aerobic scope (AAS)—then used laboratory fishing simulations to test how capture vulnerability was related to parasite density. We further explored group-trapping dynamics using experimental shoals containing varying proportions of infected fish (groups of six with either 0, 2, 4 or 6 infected in iduals). At the in idual level, we found a positive relationship between parasite presence and SMR, but not MMR or AAS. While we saw no relationship between in idual metabolic capacity and vulnerability to trapping, we found the length of time fish spent in traps increased with increasing parasite density, a predictor of trapping-related capture probability. At the group level, the number of infected in iduals in a shoal did not affect overall group trapping vulnerability. Our results suggest that parasite infection has some capacity to shift in idual vulnerability patterns in fisheries, and potentially influence the evolutionary outcomes of fisheries-induced evolution.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2017
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.162529
Abstract: Theoretical models predict that ocean acidification, caused by increased dissolved CO2, will reduce the maximum thermal limits of fishes, thereby increasing their vulnerability to rising ocean temperatures and transient heatwaves. Here, we test this prediction in three species of damselfishes on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Maximum thermal limits were quantified using critical thermal maxima (CTmax) tests following acclimation to either present-day or end-of-century levels of CO2 for coral reef environments (∼500 or ∼1,000 µatm, respectively). While species differed significantly in their thermal limits, whereby Dischistodus perspicillatus exhibited greater CTmax (37.88±0.03oC N=47) than Dascyllus aruanus (37.68±0.02oC N=85) and Acanthochromis polyacanthus (36.58±0.02oC N=63), end-of-century CO2 had no effect (D. aruanus) or a slightly positive effect (increase in CTmax of 0.16oC in D. perspicillatus and 0.21oC in A. polyacanthus) on CTmax. Contrary to expectations, smaller in iduals were equally as resilient to CO2 as larger conspecifics, and CTmax was higher at smaller body sizes in two species. These findings suggest that ocean acidification will not impair the maximum thermal limits of reef fishes, and they highlight the critical role of experimental biology in testing predictions of theoretical models forecasting the consequences of environmental change.
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 08-03-2022
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.243559
Abstract: In a recent editorial, the Editors-in-Chief of Journal of Experimental Biology argued that consensus building, data sharing, and better integration across disciplines are needed to address the urgent scientific challenges posed by climate change. We agree and expand on the importance of cross-disciplinary integration and transparency to improve consensus building and advance climate change research in experimental biology. We investigated reproducible research practices in experimental biology through a review of open data and analysis code associated with empirical studies on three debated paradigms and for unrelated studies published in leading journals in comparative physiology and behavioural ecology over the last 10 years. Nineteen per cent of studies on the three paradigms had open data, and 3.2% had open code. Similarly, 12.1% of studies in the journals we examined had open data, and 3.1% had open code. Previous research indicates that only 50% of shared datasets are complete and re-usable, suggesting that fewer than 10% of studies in experimental biology have usable open data. Encouragingly, our results indicate that reproducible research practices are increasing over time, with data sharing rates in some journals reaching 75% in recent years. Rigorous empirical research in experimental biology is key to understanding the mechanisms by which climate change affects organisms, and ultimately promotes evidence-based conservation policy and practice. We argue that a greater adoption of open science practices, with a particular focus on FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Re-usable) data and code, represents a much-needed paradigm shift towards improved transparency, cross-disciplinary integration, and consensus building to maximize the contributions of experimental biologists in addressing the impacts of environmental change on living organisms.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-08-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1095-8649.2011.03070.X
Abstract: This study describes a novel method for measuring pectoral fin aspect ratio (AR) on live coral-reef fishes and tests the method against traditional measurements taken from a dissected fin. No significant differences were detected among repeated fin measurements, which validates the accuracy (intact v. dissected) and precision (repeatability over several days) of fin AR measurements on live fishes. One exception highlighted issues that may arise when working with species prone to fin damage.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-01-2022
DOI: 10.1111/BRV.12835
Abstract: Animal migration (round‐trip, predictable movements) takes in iduals across space and time, bringing them into contact with new communities of organisms. In particular, migratory movements shape (and are shaped by) the costs and risk of parasite transmission. Unfortunately, our understanding of how migration and parasite infection interact has not proceeded evenly. Although numerous conceptual frameworks (e.g. mathematical models) have been developed, most empirical evidence of migration–parasite interactions are drawn from pre‐existing empirical studies that were conducted using other conceptual frameworks, which limits our understanding. Here, we synthesise and analyse existing work, and then provide a roadmap for future (especially empirical) studies. First, we synthesise the conceptual frameworks that have been developed to understand interactions between migration and parasites (e.g. migratory exposure, escape, allopatry, recovery, culling, separation, stalling and relapse). Second, we highlight current challenges to studying migration and parasites empirically, and to integrating empirical and theoretical perspectives, particularly emphasizing the challenge of feedback loops. Finally, we provide a guide to overcoming these challenges in empirical studies, using comparative, observational and experimental approaches. Beyond guiding future empirical work, this review aims to inspire stronger collaboration between empiricists and theorists studying the intersection of migration and parasite infection. Such collaboration will help overcome current limits to our understanding of how migration and parasites interact, and allow us to predict how these critical ecological processes will change in the future.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1890/14-0426.1.SM
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2016
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 25-03-2015
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 08-07-2017
DOI: 10.1093/ICB/ICX024
Abstract: Studies of animal locomotion and movement largely assume that in iduals are healthy and performing to the best of their abilities in ways which are adapted to their survival. However, wild animals face numerous ecological challenges that can compromise their health, reduce their performance capacity, impair their movement abilities and, ultimately, lower their fitness. By erting resources and increasing host energetic demands, parasites, bacteria, and viruses (hereafter parasites) can dramatically influence the ways in which their hosts allocate energy to movement. Yet, the role of parasites in influencing animal locomotor performance and movement remains relatively unexplored, perhaps because animals often hide outward signs of sickness, and parasites tend to be small and inconspicuous to researchers. Here, we review how parasite infection can alter host locomotor performance via impacts on host morphology and physiology. We also give ex les of behavioral strategies that some hosts employ to help overcome the disadvantages imposed by infection. Finally, we discuss how parasites can lead to both increased and decreased host movement patterns, either as an adaptive strategy for the host or due to manipulation by the parasite. The dynamic interplay between host movement (such as migration and dispersal) and infection has profound consequences for population and ecosystem-level processes that are influenced by movement. Acknowledging the important functional role played by parasites in driving the evolution of host locomotor performance and behavior is a critical step toward developing a comprehensive understanding of the causes and consequences of animal movement.
Publisher: American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Date: 09-2021
DOI: 10.1029/2021JC017591
Abstract: Sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the western half of the Niño 4 region (Niño‐4W), bounded by 160°E−175°W and 5°S–5°N, has a significant impact on weather and the marine environment of the Indo‐Pacific. It exhibits significant negative skewness, with the strong penetration of the cold tongue into the western Pacific during strong La Niñas but a more muted response during El Niños. Zonal advection plays a dominant role in driving Niño‐4W SST cooling during the strong La Niña events vertical processes also contribute, with air‐sea heat fluxes providing weak negative feedback. Advection also plays a key role in driving the Niño‐4W SST warming, which is not always in sync with El Niño events. Among the advection terms, the advection of mean temperature by zonal velocity anomalies, or zonal advective feedback, plays a key role during the development phase of the warm and cold events. Strong negative air‐sea heat flux anomalies during the development of warm events are linked to the negative SST skewness in the Niño‐4W region.
Start Date: 2010
End Date: 2011
Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2012
End Date: 2013
Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
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End Date: 2015
Funder: Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2017
End Date: 2021
Funder: Directorate for Biological Sciences
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2017
End Date: 2021
Funder: National Science Foundation
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2011
End Date: 2012
Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
View Funded ActivityStart Date: 2006
End Date: 2007
Funder: Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council
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