Department of Biology, Western University, London N6A 3K7, Canada.
Department of Biology, Western University, London N6A 3K7, Canada.
Horm Behav. 2024 Aug;164:105610. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2024.105610. Epub 2024 Jul 25.
Prolactin is a hormone conserved across all vertebrates and is renowned for its role in reproduction and parental care. Previous studies on prolactin in fish have primarily relied on administration of mammalian prolactin and have suggested that increases in prolactin lead to greater parental care. However, the influence of endogenous prolactin on fish parental care remains unknown. Here, we measure circulating concentrations of endogenous prolactin during parental care in a fish and link these concentrations to parental care behaviour. We provide evidence that male bluegill sunfish with higher circulating concentrations of prolactin provide more parental care to their offspring. Furthermore, we show that nesting males with experimentally reduced perceived paternity have lower circulating prolactin concentrations and perform fewer parental behaviours, facilitating an adaptive investment in offspring in response to paternity cues. Our findings not only confirm the role of endogenous prolactin in modulating parental care behaviour in a fish but also provide a mechanism underlying the adaptive changes in parental care made in response to perceived paternity.
催乳素是一种在所有脊椎动物中都保守存在的激素，以其在生殖和亲代养育中的作用而闻名。以前关于鱼类催乳素的研究主要依赖于哺乳动物催乳素的给药，并表明催乳素的增加会导致更多的亲代养育。然而，内源性催乳素对鱼类亲代养育的影响尚不清楚。在这里，我们测量了鱼类亲代养育过程中循环内源性催乳素的浓度，并将这些浓度与亲代养育行为联系起来。我们提供的证据表明，循环催乳素浓度较高的雄性蓝鳃太阳鱼会对其后代提供更多的亲代养育。此外，我们还表明，实验性降低感知亲权的筑巢雄性的循环催乳素浓度较低，表现出较少的亲代行为，从而有利于对亲权线索做出适应性投资以养育后代。我们的研究结果不仅证实了内源性催乳素在调节鱼类亲代养育行为中的作用，还为感知亲权下亲代养育适应性变化提供了一种机制。
