Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Different responses of coral and rubble-dwelling coral reef damselfishes (Family: Pomacentridae) to chemosensory cues from coral reef microhabitats

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Marine Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Coral reef fishes are known to respond to chemical cues in the selection of appropriate microhabitats at settlement. Coral- and non-coral-associated species are likely to respond to different stimuli and the cues may change as larvae settle and become familiar with the reef environment. Here, the chemosensory responses of both late-stage larvae and newly settled juvenile damselfishes to microhabitat odours were tested in Kimbe Bay (PNG), including four obligate coral-dwelling species (Dascyllus melanurus, D. reticulatus, Chrysiptera arnazae and Pomacentrus moluccensis) and four rubble-dwelling species (Pomacentrus adelus, P. simsiang, Chrysiptera cyanea and C. rollandi). Damselfishes were subjected to a series of pair-wise chemosensory choice trials using a two-channel choice flume. The responses by late-stage larvae (pre-settled) to chemical cues from their preferred microhabitat type mirrored those exhibited by recently settled juveniles. All four rubble-dwelling damselfish species exhibited a significant aversion toward chemical cues derived from coral microhabitats, preferring to remain either in the water seeded with chemical cues derived from rubble, or the unseeded (control) water. The obligate coral-dwelling damselfish species tended to avoid rubble and select coral cues when tested against seawater, but unexpectedly, exhibited a neutral response when given a choice between coral and rubble odours. These results indicate that coral and rubble-dwelling damselfish differ in the strength of their attraction to preferred or avoidance of non-preferred microhabitats. Both factors are likely to play a role in settlement choices. Our results indicated that for some species, newly settled juveniles could act as suitable substitutes for testing larval behavioural traits.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability statement

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this article [and its supplementary information files].

References

  • Allen GR (1991) Damselfishes of the world. Mergus, Melle, Germany

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen GR, Steene RC, Humann P, Deloach N (2003) Reef fish identification: tropical pacific. New World Publications, Florida

    Google Scholar 

  • Arvedlund M, Kavanagh K (2009) The senses and environmental cues used by marine larvae of fish and decapod crustaceans to find tropical costal ecosystems. In: Nagelkerken I (ed) Ecological connectivity among tropical coastal ecosystems. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 135–184

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Arvedlund M, Neilsen LE (1996) Do the anemonefish Amphiprion ocellaris (Pisces: Pomacentridae) imprint themselves to their host sea anemone Heteractis magnifica (Anthozoa: Actinidae)? Ethology 102:197–211

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Arvedlund M, McCormick MI, Fautin DG, Bildsoe M (1999) Host recognition and possible imprinting in the anemonefish Amphiprion melanopus (Pisces: Pomacentridae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 188:207–218

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atema J, Kingsford MJ, Gerlach G (2002) Larval reef fish could use odour for detection, retention and orientation to reefs. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 241:151–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonin MC (2012) Specializing on vulnerable habitat: Acropora selectivity among damselfish recruits and the risk of bleaching-induced habitat loss. Coral Reefs 31:287–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bonin MC, Srinivasan M, Almany GR (2009) Interactive effects of interspecific competition and microhabitat on early post-settlement survival in coral reef fish. Coral Reefs 28:265–274

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coppock AG, Gardiner NM, Jones GP (2013) Olfactory discrimination in juvenile coral reef fishes: Response to conspecifics and corals. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 443:21–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coppock AG, Gardiner NM, Jones GP (2016) Sniffing out the competition? Juvenile coral reef damselfishes use chemical cues to distinguish the presence of conspecific and heterospecific aggregations. Behav Proc 125:43–50

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danilowicz BS (1996) Choice of coral species by naive and field-caught damselfish. Copeia 3:735–739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixson DL, Jones GP (2018) Influence of prior residents on settlement preferences in anemonefish, Premnas biaculeatus. Coral Reefs 37:519–526

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixson DL, Jones GP, Munday PL, Planes S, Pratchett MS, Srinivasan M, Syms C, Thorrold SR (2008) Coral reef fish smell leaves to find island home. Proc Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 275:2831–2839

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixson DL, Munday PL, Jones GP (2010) Ocean acidification disrupts the innate ability of fish to detect predator olfactory cues. Ecol Lett 13:68–75

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Dixson DL, Munday PL, Pratchett MS, Jones GP (2011) Ontogenetic changes in responses to settlement cues by Anenomefish. Coral Reefs 30:903–910

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dixson DL, Jones GP, Munday PL, Planes S, Pratchett MS, Thorrold SR (2014) Experimental evaluation of imprinting and the role innate preference plays in habitat selection in a coral reef fish. Oecologica 174:99–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elliot JK, Elliot JM, Mariscal RN (1995) Host selection, location and association behaviours of anemonefishes in field settlement experiments. Mar Biol 122:377–389

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gardiner NM, Jones GP (2005) Habitat specialisation and overlap in a guild of coral reef cardinal fishes (Apogonidae). Mar Ecol Prog Ser 305:163–175

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach G, Atema J, Kingsford MJ, Black KP, Miller-Sims V (2007) Smelling home can prevent dispersal of reef fish larvae. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 104(3):858–863

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gerlach G, Tietje K, Biechi D, Namekawa I, Schalm G, Sulmann A (2019) Behavioural and neuronal basis of olfactory imprinting and kin recognition in larval fish. J Exp Biol 2019:222

    Google Scholar 

  • Hu Y, Majoris JE, Buston PM, Webb JF (2018) Potential roles of smell and taste in the orientation behaviour of coral-reef larvae: insights from morphology. J Fish Biol 2018:1–13

    Google Scholar 

  • Huijbers CM, Nagelkerken I, Lossbroek PAC, Schulten IE, Siegenthaler A, Holderied MW, Simpson SD (2012) A test of the senses: fish select novel habitats by responding to multiple cues. Ecology 93(1):46–55

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Igulu MM, Nagelkerken I, van der Beek M, Schippers M, van Eck R, Mgaya YD (2013) Orientation from open water to settlement habitats by coral reef fish: behavioral flexibility in the use of multiple reliable cues. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 493:243–257

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP (1991) Post-recruitment processes in the ecology of coral reef fish populations: a multifactorial perspective. The ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 294–328

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones GP, Syms C (1998) Disturbance, habitat structure and ecology of fishes on coral reefs. Austral Ecol 23:287–297

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kingsford MJ, Leis JM, Shanks A, Lindeman KC, Morgan SG, Pineda J (2002) Sensory environments, larval abilities and local self-recruitment. Bull Mar Sci 70:309–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Komyakova V, Munday PL, Jones GP (2019) Comparative analysis of habitat use and ontogenetic habitat-shifts among coral reef damselfishes. Environ Biol Fish 102:1201–1208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuiter RH, Tonozuka T (2001) Pictoral guide to Indonesian reef fishes, Part 2: Fuisilliers–Dragonets, Caesonidae–Callionymidae. Zoonetics Australia, p 304–622

  • Lecchini D, Nakamura Y (2013) Use of chemical cues by coral reef animal larvae for habitat selection. Aquat Biol 19:231–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecchini D, Planes S, Galzin R (2005a) Experimental assessment of sensory modalities of coral reef fish larvae in the recognition of their settlement habitat. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 58:18–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lecchini D, Shima J, Banaigs B, Galzin R (2005b) Larval sensory abilities and mechanisms of habitat selection of a coral-reef fish during settlement. Oecologia 143:326–334

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lecchini D, Carassou L, Fredérich B, Nakamura Y, Mills SC, Galzin R (2012) Effects of alternate reef states on coral reef habitat associations. Environ Biol Fish 94:421–429

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leis JM (2012) Yerman M (2012) Behaviour of larval butterflyfishes (Teleostei: Chaetodontidae) at settlement on coral reefs. Copeia 2:211–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leis JM, McCormick MI (2002) The biology, behaviour and ecology of the pelagic, larval stage of coral-reef fishes. In: Sale PF (ed) Coral reef fishes: new insights into their ecology. Academic Press, San Diego, pp 171–199

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Leis JM, Siebeck U, Dixson DL (2011) How Nemo finds home: the neuroecology of dispersal and of population connectivity in larvae of marine fishes. Integr Comp Biol 51:826–843

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lieske E, Myers R (2001) Coral reef fishes: Indo-Pacific and Caribbean. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Majoris JE, D’Aloia CC, Francis RK, Buston PM (2018) Differential persistence favors habitat preferences that determine the distribution of a reef fish. Behav Ecol 29(2):429–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Munday PL, Wilson SK (1997) Comparative efficacy of clove oil and other chemicals in anaesthetization of Pomacentrus ambionensis, a coral reef fish. J Fish Biol 51:931–938

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Öhman MC, Munday PL, Jones GP, Caley MJ (1998) Settlement strategies and distribution patterns of coral reef fishes. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 225:219–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santonja M, Greff S, Le Croller M, Thomas OP, Perez T (2018) Distance interaction between marine cave-dwelling sponges and crustaceans. Mar Biol 165:121

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Scott A, Dixson DL (2016) Reef fish can recognize bleached habitat during settlement: sea anemone bleaching alters anemonefish host selection. Proc Roy Soc B-Biol Sci 283:2015–2694

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Srinivasan M (2003) Depth distributions of coral reef fishes: the influence of microhabitat structure, settlement and post-settlement processes. Oecologia 137(1):76–84

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stamps JA, Davis JM (2006) Adaptive effects of natal experience on habitat selection by dispersers. Anim Behav 72:1279–1289

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweatman HPA (1983) Influence of conspecifics on choice of settlement sites by larvae of two pomacentrid fishes (Dascyllus aruanus and D. reticulatus) on coral reefs. Mar Biol 75:225–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweatman HPA (1985) The influence of adults of some coral reef fishes on larval recruitment. Ecol Monogr 55:469–485

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweatman HPA (1988) Field evidence that settling coral reef fish larvae detect resident fishes using dissolved chemical cues. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 124:163–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tierney KB, Baldwin DH, Hara TJ, Ross PS, Kennedy SNLCJ (2010) Olfactory toxicity in fishes. Aquat Toxicol 96:2–26

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ward AJW, Hart PJB, Krause J (2008) The effects of habitat- and diet-based cues on association preferences in three-spined sticklebacks. Behav Ecol 15:925–929

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wright KJ, Higgs DM, Belanger AJ, Leis JM (2005) Auditory and olfactory abilities of pre-settlement larvae and post-settlement juveniles of a coral reef damselfish (Pisces: Pomacentridae). Mar Biol 147:1425–1434

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

Thanks go to the staff at Mahonia Na Dari Research and Conservation Centre and the staff at Walindi Plantation Resort for logistical support. We greatly appreciate and acknowledge the traditional owners of the Tamare-Kilu reefs in Kimbe Bay for allowing both access to and use of their local reef resources to carry out this investigation. Thanks also go to three anonymous reviewers and journal editors for their thorough and constructive comments on a previous version of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by core funding to G. Jones from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (Grant no. CE140100020).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Marine Biology and Aquaculture, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Amy G. Coppock, Saúl O. González-Murcia, Maya Srinivasan, Naomi M. Gardiner & Geoffrey P. Jones

  2. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Amy G. Coppock, Saúl O. González-Murcia & Geoffrey P. Jones

Authors
  1. Amy G. Coppock
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Saúl O. González-Murcia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maya Srinivasan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Naomi M. Gardiner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Geoffrey P. Jones
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by AC and SG-M. The first draft of the manuscript was written by AC and all authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amy G. Coppock.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Statement of animal welfare and ethics

All applicable international, national and institutional guidelines for the care and use of animals were followed. This work was conducted in compliance with the James Cook University Ethics Review Committee regulations (Ethics approval numbers A1837 and A2170).

Additional information

Responsible Editor: D. Goulet.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Reviewed by undisclosed experts.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (PDF 128 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Coppock, A.G., González-Murcia, S.O., Srinivasan, M. et al. Different responses of coral and rubble-dwelling coral reef damselfishes (Family: Pomacentridae) to chemosensory cues from coral reef microhabitats. Mar Biol 167, 74 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03687-w

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-020-03687-w

Search

Navigation