Moland Even, Jones Geoffrey P
School of Marine Biology and Aquaculture, Centre for Coral Reef Biodiversity, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia.
Oecologia. 2004 Aug;140(4):676-83. doi: 10.1007/s00442-004-1637-9. Epub 2004 Jul 28.
A number of potential mimetic relationships between coral reef fishes have been described, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Similarities in colour between species have often been attributed to aggressive mimicry (where predators resemble models in order to deceive prey), however this has not been tested. The fang blenny, Plagiotremus rhinorhynchos is a specialized predator that feeds on tissues of other fishes. Some individuals appear to mimic the harmless cleaner wrasse Labroides dimidiatus in order to deceive fish visiting cleaning stations, thereby increasing access to food. In this study, the ecological relationship between the mimic and model was examined at Kimbe Bay (Papua New Guinea) and the hypothesis that colour similarities represent facultative aggressive mimicry was experimentally evaluated. Some juveniles exhibited a striking resemblance to the juvenile colouration of the cleaner wrasse, but only when in close proximity to the wrasse and only when similar in size. As predicted for mimics, P. rhinorhynchos co-occurred with L. dimidiatus, but was rare relative to the model. Among site comparisons showed that the abundance of mimetic type blennies was positively correlated with the abundance of juvenile cleaner wrasses. Approximately 50% of all P. rhinorhynchos were found </=1 m from the nearest L. dimidiatus, a distance significantly shorter than expected if they were not associated. A cleaner wrasse removal experiment was carried out to test whether the colour displayed by the blenny and its foraging success were contingent upon the presence of a model. In all cases, removal of the model prompted a rapid colour change to a general non-mimetic colouration in P. rhinorhynchos. Removal of L. dimidiatus also resulted in a approximately 20% reduction in the average foraging success of the blenny compared to controls, supporting the hypothesis that the blenny is a facultative aggressive mimic of the cleaner wrasse.
人们已经描述了珊瑚礁鱼类之间一些潜在的拟态关系,但对其潜在机制却知之甚少。物种之间的颜色相似性常常被归因于攻击性拟态(即捕食者模仿其他生物以欺骗猎物),然而这一点尚未得到验证。尖牙鳚,即吻鼻斜齿鳚,是一种以其他鱼类组织为食的特化捕食者。一些个体似乎模仿无害的清洁濑鱼裂唇鱼,以欺骗前来清洁站的鱼类,从而增加获取食物的机会。在本研究中,在金贝湾(巴布亚新几内亚)考察了模仿者与被模仿者之间的生态关系,并通过实验评估了颜色相似性代表兼性攻击性拟态的假说。一些幼鱼与清洁濑鱼的幼鱼体色极为相似,但仅在靠近濑鱼且大小相近时才会如此。正如对模仿者的预测,吻鼻斜齿鳚与裂唇鱼共存,但相对于被模仿者来说数量稀少。不同地点的比较表明,拟态型鳚鱼的数量与幼年清洁濑鱼的数量呈正相关。所有吻鼻斜齿鳚中约50%被发现距离最近的裂唇鱼≤1米,这一距离比它们没有关联时预期的要短得多。进行了一项清洁濑鱼移除实验,以测试鳚鱼所呈现的颜色及其觅食成功率是否取决于被模仿者的存在。在所有情况下,移除被模仿者都会促使吻鼻斜齿鳚迅速变色为一般的非拟态颜色。与对照组相比,移除裂唇鱼还导致鳚鱼的平均觅食成功率降低了约20%,这支持了鳚鱼是清洁濑鱼的兼性攻击性模仿者这一假说。