Elsevier

Animal Behaviour

Volume 132, October 2017, Pages 61-71
Animal Behaviour

Ontogenetic milestones of chemotactic behaviour reflect innate species-specific response to habitat cues in larval fish

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.07.026Get rights and content

Highlights

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    Olfactory responses emerge with consistent ontogeny during the larval phase.

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    Olfaction ontogeny is species-specific and driven by organic components.

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    Ontogenetic milestones are proposed whereby influence on dispersal becomes active.

The distribution and connectivity of marine populations are largely dependent on biophysical factors affecting pelagic larval dispersal between spawning at adult spawning sites and settlement to juvenile nursery habitats. Behaviour and swimming ability of pelagic larvae are increasingly understood to influence patterns of dispersal, but it is unclear which sensory cues are involved and when during ontogeny these abilities first develop. Here we studied the early ontogenetic development of responses to olfactory cues from coastal and estuarine waters in larvae of two temperate estuarine-associated fish species, Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata, and mulloway, Argyrosomus japonicus, to determine when olfaction begins to influence dispersal. Olfactory responses to habitat-associated cues were not present when larvae first transitioned from nonswimming to swimming (indicated by flexion of the notochord), but emerged after ca. 7 days in a species-specific manner that was consistent across different cohorts. Based on general additive models (GAMs), age (in days posthatch) best explained the ontogenetic pattern in both species. The emergence of chemotactic responses coincides with an exponential increase in swimming endurance reported for these species. This suggests the existence of ontogenetic milestones during larval development that, once reached, trigger active influence on dispersal. Salinity and pH did not influence choice behaviour after these ontogenetic milestones; however, the presence of cues generated by seagrass harvested from the estuary habitat elicited strong responses in fish larvae consistent with species-specific habitat preferences, indicating an important role for aquatic vegetation in driving these behaviours.

Section snippets

Study Species

Important for recreational fishers and aquaculture, the Australian bass, Macquaria novemaculeata (Family: Percichthyidae) is found in streams and estuaries on the eastern coast of Australia (Trnski, Hay, & Fielder, 2005). A catadromous euryhaline fish, this species spends most of its life in fresh water, migrating down into estuaries during the winter months to spawn. During periods of heavy rainfall and flooding events less saline plumes of water can skirt the coastline, allowing adults and

Consistent, Species-Specific Olfactory Ontogeny

Ontogeny of olfactory responses was consistent between cohorts for both species. No evidence of choice behaviour was detected for M. novemaculeata larvae at the stage at which the first tail flexion had taken place (ca. 6 mm SL) in Cohort 1 (Wilcoxon signed-rank test: Z = −1.22, P = 0.31, r = 0.55) or Cohort 2 (Wilcoxon signed-rank test: Z = −1.78, P = 0.076, r = 0.40). Olfactory preference for COA in M. novemaculeata developed from 30 dph in Cohort 1 (GLM: β = −0.41, SE = 0.09, P ≤ 0.01) and 34 dph in Cohort 2

Discussion

Research into the biological factors influencing the ecology and dispersal of larval fishes is limited, particularly outside of the tropics. We found that larvae of two estuarine-associated temperate species had quantifiable behavioural milestones during the pelagic larval phase where responses to olfactory stimuli emerged or changed, and this was consistent across cohorts despite differences in growth rates of larvae prior to the formation of the caudal fin. These milestones are

Acknowledgments

We thank L. Cheviot, L. Vandenburg and B. Morton at Port Stephens Fisheries Institute and L. Pedini and S. Bertin at UTS for their logistical and hatchery support. We also thank J. Morrongiello for assistance with data analysis. This research was supported by ARC Discovery grant DP110100695 to J.M.L.

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