Cole Gemma L, Endler John A
Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia
Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Victoria 3216, Australia.
Proc Biol Sci. 2015 Apr 7;282(1804):20143108. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2014.3108.
Colour is an important factor in food detection and acquisition by animals using visually based foraging. Colour can be used to identify the suitability of a food source or improve the efficiency of food detection, and can even be linked to mate choice. Food colour preferences are known to exist, but whether these preferences are heritable and how these preferences evolve is unknown. Using the freshwater fish Poecilia reticulata, we artificially selected for chase behaviour towards two different-coloured moving stimuli: red and blue spots. A response to selection was only seen for chase behaviours towards the red, with realized heritabilities ranging from 0.25 to 0.30. Despite intense selection, no significant chase response was recorded for the blue-selected lines. This lack of response may be due to the motion-detection mechanism in the guppy visual system and may have novel implications for the evolvability of responses to colour-related signals. The behavioural response to several colours after five generations of selection suggests that the colour opponency system of the fish may regulate the response to selection.
颜色是动物利用视觉觅食进行食物探测和获取的一个重要因素。颜色可用于识别食物来源的适宜性或提高食物探测效率，甚至与配偶选择有关。已知存在食物颜色偏好，但这些偏好是否可遗传以及这些偏好如何演变尚不清楚。我们利用淡水鱼孔雀鱼，针对对两种不同颜色的移动刺激物（红色和蓝色斑点）的追逐行为进行人工选择。仅观察到对红色追逐行为的选择反应，实现的遗传力范围为0.25至0.30。尽管进行了高强度选择，但蓝色选择品系未记录到显著的追逐反应。这种缺乏反应可能是由于孔雀鱼视觉系统中的运动检测机制，并且可能对与颜色相关信号的反应进化能力具有新的意义。经过五代选择后对几种颜色的行为反应表明，鱼类的颜色拮抗系统可能调节对选择的反应。
