Abstract
Behavioural interactions between alien invasive fishes and native fishes is considered one of the drivers of native fish decline. However, there are few experimental studies on their behavioural interactions at the individual level. In this study, we investigated the behavioural interactions between the threatened native killifish Valencia letourneuxi, and the alien invasive Eastern mosquitofish Gambusia holbrooki, thought to induce the killifish’s rapid population decline. The aim was to assess aggressive behaviours, disruption in activity, stress levels, boldness, forging efficiency and shelter use by the native fish in the presence of the mosquitofish. Interspecies interactions were assessed in a three-tiered experimental setup, i.e. in an empty arena, in the presence of an artificial cover, and during feeding, using two opponents at each trial. The behaviours recorded and assessed were nips, following, approach, moving/immobile, top/bottom, erratic movement, cover use, feeding and latency to exit. The results showed that the mosquitofish was bolder, followed the native species, spent significantly less time under the cover and consumed food, as opposed to no following by the native species, significantly higher cover use and time immobile, as avoidance behaviours, and zero feeding in the presence of the mosquitofish. More significantly, the native species received direct aggression by the mosquitofish, as opposed to no aggression at all exhibited by it. Future research needs, as well as the conservation implications of our findings are briefly discussed.
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Acknowledgements
We wish to thank P. Kouraklis for his assistance in fish collection and transportation to HCMR and B. Zimmerman for English language help and for proof reading the ms. This work forms part of the PhD thesis of Y. Kapakos at the Department of Applied Hydrobiology, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA), Greece.
Funding
This study was conducted within the project DECAGON, funded by the A.G. Leventis Foundation, through the London Zoological Society.
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Yiannis Kapakos: conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, investigation, writing, visualization. Ioannis Leris: conceptualization, methodology, software, formal analysis, writing, visualization. Brian Zimmerman: Nafsika Karakatsouli: supervision, writing. Eleni Kalogianni: conceptualization, methodology, resources, writing, supervision, project administration, funding acquisition.
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All experimental procedures were conducted according to the Greek law and conform to ASAB ethical guidelines. HCMR had secured all necessary permits for fish collection from the Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change (permit 9ZE24653Π-ΖΟ6, HCMR Research Ethics Committee under development during the implementation of this work and thus no specific licence to conduct the experiment was required). We conducted pilot tests before the main experiment to fine-tune the setup and procedure. During these tests, the observed level of aggression between the two species was not severe. In the main experiment, we used a long acclimation period (60 min) prior to each trial, and placed gravel on the bottom of the test tank, to reduce stress for both subjects. The experimenter was operating behind an opaque cover, and observed the trials remotely through a camera, to minimize disturbance. After each trial, used fish were placed in a separate compartment in their home tank for monitoring of their health and recovery. We did not observe any bleeding or scale loss during or after the trials, only minor fin damage was visible in some cases. Should there have been cases of severe aggression, the subjects would have been immediately separated using a stick (which was used to separate and guide them into their respective compartment at the end of each stage), and then returned to the used compartment of their housing tank for monitoring. After the conclusion of the experiments, no mortalities or other adverse effects were observed on the subjects, which were maintained in HCMR facilities for breeding purposes and future experimental use.
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Kapakos, Y., Leris, I., Karakatsouli, N. et al. Behavioural interactions between a threatened native killifish and the alien invasive Eastern mosquitofish. J Ethol 42, 97–106 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-024-00807-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-024-00807-7