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Kin discrimination in polyphenic salamander larvae: trade-offs between inclusive fitness and pathogen transmission

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Abstract

Some larval amphibians can develop into two distinct morphological types: a small-headed “normal” morph and a rarer broad-headed morph with specialized adaptations to feed on the normal morph. Cannibalism confers nutritional benefits that accelerate development, essential for survival in transient environments, but incurs potential inclusive fitness costs. Selective cannibalism of non-kin thus should be favored. However, subjects may be more vulnerable to contracting disease from non-siblings to which they lack immunological defenses. We investigated kin discrimination and pathogen transmission among Korean salamander (Hynobius leechii) larvae. We placed broad-headed morph larvae into a circular arena together with two normal morph larvae, one their sibling and the other a non-sibling. To test for kin discrimination, we recorded all behavioral interactions among them. To study pathogen transmission, we fed broad-headed larvae either a sibling or non-sibling normal larva that we previously had infected with the bacterium Aeromonas hydrophila. Two days after ingestion, we determined whether the bacterium had systemically infected cannibals by quantitative PCR (qPCR). Broad-headed larvae discriminated between sibling and non-sibling normal larvae, directing aggressive behaviors mostly toward siblings. Infection loads varied more widely among broad-headed larvae that cannibalized non-siblings than those that cannibalized siblings, but the highest infection loads were recorded after ingestion of non-siblings. Cannibalizing non-siblings thus may increase the risk of contracting disease. Broad-headed larvae discriminate most strongly between siblings and non-siblings late in development, when inclusive fitness costs of cannibalizing relatives diminish and vulnerability to novel pathogens transmitted by non-relatives rises.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Caitlin Gabor and two anonymous referees for their helpful suggestions. We are grateful to Arnaud Bataille for his assistance in designing the infection protocol and assay. The research was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the government of the Republic of Korea (MSIP) (grants 2010–0002767, 2012R1A1A2044449 and 2012K1A2B1A03000496 to BW) and by Seoul National University research grants (to BW).

Ethical standards

The research was approved by the Seoul National University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (permit SNU-130115-1). Salamanders were collected under a permit issued by Gwanak-gu, Seoul Metropolitan City.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Behavioral and Population Ecology, School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, 1 Gwanak-ro, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, 151-747, South Korea

    Samantha Garza & Bruce Waldman

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  1. Samantha Garza
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  2. Bruce Waldman
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Correspondence to Bruce Waldman.

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Communicated by C. R. Gabor

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Garza, S., Waldman, B. Kin discrimination in polyphenic salamander larvae: trade-offs between inclusive fitness and pathogen transmission. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 1473–1481 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1959-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1959-0

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