Abstract
Cichlid fish have undergone explosive radiation in a process aided by sexual selection. Thus, phenotypes that contribute to reproduction may partially explain the rate of radiation. One such phenotype is the presence of circular spots on the anal fin of the haplochromine cichlids. In 1963, Wickler postulated this phenotype acts as an egg mimic which enhances male fertilization success. However, it remained unclear whether cichlids can distinguish between eggs and egg spots in their natural environment. Further, studies have found differing effects of egg spot characteristics in female mate preference. In this study, we quantified the color of eggs, egg spots, and anal fins of two haplochromine species (Metriaclima benetos and Astatotilapia burtoni). Using a receptor noise limited (RNL) visual model, we found that these species are unable to distinguish the colors of eggs and egg spots in the lighting of their natural habitat. Further, only M. benetos could distinguish the color of egg spots from anal fins. This study supports Wickler’s egg spot mimicry hypothesis and potentially explains species differences in the roles of egg spots as sexually selected traits. It further points out the importance of avoiding human biases in quantifying what colors fish can and cannot distinguish.
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Light and reflectance spectral data are available in the supplement.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Molly Westbrook and Kristen Behrens for their assistance with data collection and Daniel Escobar-Camacho for the use of his scripts and recommendations for the visual model. Underwater light spectra were collected with the help of Walter Salzburger, Tod Thiele, Venkatesh Subramanian, Nicholas Guilbeault, and Thomas Musisha.
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This work was supported by the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health (R01EY024639B; KC and SJ) and the Human Frontiers in Science Program grant (RGY0079/2018; SJ).
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Z.G. and K.L.C. conceptualized and designed the study. All authors contributed to data collection. Z.G. performed analyses and drafted the manuscript. All authors critically reviewed the article. All authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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Gonzalez, Z.M., Juntti, S.A. & Carleton, K.L. Testing Wickler’s hypothesis: cichlids are unable to distinguish eggs from egg spots in the wild. Hydrobiologia 850, 2355–2369 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-05113-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-022-05113-2