Spiecker L, Laurien M, Schröder F, Moreno J C C, Fübbeker S M, Lüdtke S, Walter C, Nolte A W, Gerlach G
Institute of Biology and Environmental Science, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111 Oldenburg, Germany.
Department of Biogeography, University of Trier, 54296 Trier, Germany.
Integr Org Biol. 2025 May 28;7(1):obaf022. doi: 10.1093/iob/obaf022. eCollection 2025.
In the northern coastal hemisphere, different ecotypes of the threespine stickleback () can be distinguished phenotypically by a different number of lateral bone plates and by their body shape and size. We focused on (1) anadromous sticklebacks, which migrate from the sea to rivers to spawn and (2) freshwater sticklebacks, which live in rivers all year round. Migration behavior is a key feature in the evolution of ecotypes, but the underlying mechanisms of migration are poorly understood. To learn more about possible orientation mechanisms that could lead to goal-directed migration, we tested anadromous sticklebacks for their sun compass orientation and compared their orientation behavior with that of the freshwater ecotype. Behavioral experiments revealed ecotype-dependent differences, whereby the ability to orient is consistently present in the anadromous ecotype, whereas the orientation in the freshwater ecotype corresponds to a random directional distribution.
在北半球沿海地区，三刺鱼（）的不同生态型在表型上可通过侧骨板数量的差异以及体型和大小来区分。我们重点研究了（1）溯河洄游型三刺鱼，它们从海洋洄游到河流中产卵；以及（2）淡水型三刺鱼，它们常年生活在河流中。洄游行为是生态型进化的一个关键特征，但洄游的潜在机制却知之甚少。为了更多地了解可能导致目标导向性洄游的定向机制，我们测试了溯河洄游型三刺鱼的太阳罗盘定向能力，并将它们的定向行为与淡水生态型的进行了比较。行为实验揭示了生态型依赖的差异，即溯河洄游型生态型始终具有定向能力，而淡水生态型的定向则对应于随机的方向分布。
