Lehtonen Topi K, Wong Bob B M, Kvarnemo Charlotta
Department of Biosciences, Åbo Akademi University, Tykistökatu 6, 20520, Turku, Finland.
Section of Ecology, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland.
BMC Ecol. 2016 Feb 29;16:7. doi: 10.1186/s12898-016-0067-y.
Parental allocation and reproductive success are often strongly influenced by environmental factors. In this respect, salinity is a key factor influencing species distributions and community structure in aquatic animals. Nevertheless, the effects of salinity on reproductive behaviours are not well known. Here, we used the sand goby (Pomatoschistus minutus), a small fish inhabiting a range of different salinities, to experimentally assess the effects of changes in salinity on nesting behaviour, a key component of reproduction in sand gobies and many other taxa.
We found that salinity levels influenced some aspects of male nesting behaviour (i.e. nest entrance size) but not others (i.e. latency to build a nest, choice of nest site, sand on top of nest) and that small and large individuals were differently affected. In particular, the importance of body size in adjustment of nest entrance depended on the salinity level.
The results support the prediction that geographically widespread aquatic species, such as sand gobies, are able to perform well under a range of salinity levels. The phenotype by environment interaction found between male size and behavioural responses to salinity can, in turn, help to explain the notable variation observed in nest-building (and other) behaviours closely linked to reproduction.
亲代资源分配和繁殖成功率通常受到环境因素的强烈影响。在这方面，盐度是影响水生动物物种分布和群落结构的关键因素。然而，盐度对繁殖行为的影响尚不为人所知。在此，我们以沙鳢（Pomatoschistus minutus）为研究对象，这是一种栖息于多种不同盐度环境中的小型鱼类，通过实验评估盐度变化对筑巢行为的影响，筑巢行为是沙鳢及许多其他分类群繁殖的关键组成部分。
我们发现盐度水平影响雄性筑巢行为的某些方面（即巢口大小），但不影响其他方面（即筑巢潜伏期、巢址选择、巢顶沙子情况），并且大小个体受到的影响不同。特别是，体型大小在调整巢口方面的重要性取决于盐度水平。
这些结果支持了这样的预测，即像沙鳢这样地理分布广泛的水生物种能够在一定范围的盐度水平下良好生存。雄性体型与对盐度行为反应之间的表型与环境相互作用，反过来有助于解释在与繁殖密切相关的筑巢（及其他）行为中观察到的显著差异。
