Abstract
Tadpoles can alter their behavior, morphology, and life history in response to habitat change. Although chemical signals from conspecifics or predators play an important role in tadpole habitat assessment, little is known about the role of visual cues and the extent to which tadpoles rely on their vision for intraspecific social assessment. The aim of our experiments was to determine whether larval anurans use visual images of other tadpoles as indicators of density and to analyze how, and to what extent, images of conspecifics alone affect tadpole development, growth, and behavior. To assess this, we raised both Rana sylvatica and Bufo americanus tadpoles in aquaria with either quarter- or half-mirrored walls. Both physically increased density and increased density simulated with mirrors decreased tadpole growth and developmental rates, and increased activity in Rana tadpoles. Bufo tadpoles did not significantly alter their growth and development in response to visually increased density. Only true, i.e., physically, increased density had an effect on growth and activity in Bufo tadpoles. Our data show that images of conspecifics are used as visual cues by Rana tadpoles and can induce phenotypically plastic changes in several traits. This response to visual cues is taxon-specific.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Kerri Oseen for her help with collecting egg clutches and editorial suggestions. Rick Relyea, Bruce Waldman, David Skelly, and Marco Dadda provided critical comments on the manuscript. This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (awarded to I.R.N. and R.J.W.) and by an I.W. Killam Memorial Scholarship (to I.R.N.). The experiments conducted herein comply with the current law of the country in which they were performed.
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Communicated by J. Christensen-Dalsgaard
An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00265-006-0186-0
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Rot-Nikcevic, I., Taylor, C.N. & Wassersug, R.J. The role of images of conspecifics as visual cues in the development and behavior of larval anurans. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 60, 19–25 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0133-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-005-0133-5