Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, Brno, Czech Republic.
Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Kotlářská 2, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic.
Nat Commun. 2022 Mar 31;13(1):1723. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-29417-y.
Brood parasites are involved in coevolutionary arms races with their hosts, whereby adaptations of one partner elicit the rapid evolution of counter-adaptations in the other partner. Hosts can also mitigate fitness costs of brood parasitism by learning from individual or social experience. In brood parasites, however, the role of learning can be obscured by their stealthy behaviour. Cuckoo catfish (Synodontis multipunctatus) parasitise clutches of mouthbrooding cichlids in Lake Tanganyika and are the only non-avian obligate brood parasites among vertebrates. We experimentally demonstrate that cuckoo catfish greatly enhance their efficiency in parasitising their hosts as they learn to overcome host defences. With increasing experience, cuckoo catfish increased their parasitism success by greater efficiency through improved timing and coordination of intrusions of host spawnings. Hence, within the coevolutionary arms races, brood parasites learn to overcome host defences during their lifetime.
巢寄生者与宿主共同参与协同进化的军备竞赛，一方的适应会迅速引发另一方的反适应。宿主也可以通过个体或社会经验的学习来减轻巢寄生的适应成本。然而，在巢寄生者中，学习的作用可能会被它们的隐秘行为所掩盖。麝香鸭嘴鱼（Synodontis multipunctatus）在坦噶尼喀湖（Lake Tanganyika）寄生口孵孵育的慈鲷鱼的鱼卵，并成为脊椎动物中唯一的非鸟类专性巢寄生者。我们的实验表明，麝香鸭嘴鱼通过学习来克服宿主的防御，从而极大地提高了寄生宿主的效率。随着经验的增加，麝香鸭嘴鱼通过提高入侵宿主产卵的时机和协调性，提高了寄生成功率，从而提高了效率。因此，在协同进化的军备竞赛中，巢寄生者在其一生中学会了克服宿主的防御。
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