Abstract
Many teleost fishes can withstand long feed deprivation periods, either due to an eventual lack of food or because of their behavior during reproduction and/or parental care. In this work, the effects of total food restriction on the oogenesis, spermatogenesis, and reproductive hormones of the neotropical cichlid fish Cichlasoma dimerus were studied. Specifically, different pairs were isolated after having a spawning event and were feed-deprived or daily fed for 3 weeks. After that period, gonadal histology, messenger levels of genes related to reproduction (gonadotropin-releasing hormone 1, gonadotropins, and insulin-like growth factor 1) and 11-ketotestosterone plasma levels were evaluated in both groups. Food restriction did not affect the reproductive axis in females since follicular maturation and gene expression showed no differences with respect to controls. However, in males, food restriction showed a stimulatory effect on the reproductive axis, reflected in a greater number of spermatozoa in their seminiferous lobes and spermatic ducts, and in an increase in follicle stimulating hormone messenger expression. Despite the negative effect reported for many fish species, C. dimerus seems to redirect their energy reserves towards gonadal development when faced with to a feed deprivation period.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (PGV), upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Dr. Ariadna Battista and Mr. Federico Obertello for their technical assistance and Lic. M. Luisa Varela for providing technical equipment.
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This work has been supported by the Universidad de Buenos Aires (grant number: 20020160100110BA to PGV), Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET) (PIP 2014–2016:11220130100501CO to PGV), and ANPCyT PICT 2015–2783 (GMS).
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DIPS, PGV, and GMS contributed to the design of the work, interpretation of the results, and writing of the manuscript; DIPS, MPDY, THD, PGV, and GMS contributed to the interpretation of the results; RMH and RGM contributed to the 11-KT plasma level measurement. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
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Pérez-Sirkin, D.I., Di Yorio, M.P., Delgadin, T.H. et al. Post-spawning feed deprivation effects on testicular and ovarian maturation in the neotropical cichlid fish Cichlasoma dimerus. Fish Physiol Biochem 47, 1527–1540 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-021-00993-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10695-021-00993-y