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Experimental evaluation of imprinting and the role innate preference plays in habitat selection in a coral reef fish

  • Behavioral ecology - Original research
  • Published:
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Abstract

When facing decisions about where to live, juveniles have a strong tendency to choose habitats similar to where their parents successfully bred. Developing larval fishes can imprint on the chemical cues from their natal habitat. However, to demonstrate that imprinting is ecologically important, it must be shown that settlers respond and distinguish among different imprinted cues, and use imprinting for decisions in natural environments. In addition, the potential role innate preferences play compared to imprinted choices also needs to be examined. As environmental variability increases due to anthropogenic causes these two recognition mechanisms, innate and imprinting, could provide conflicting information. Here we used laboratory rearing and chemical choice experiments to test imprinting in larval anemonefish (Amphiprion percula). Individuals exposed to a variety of benthic habitat or novel olfactory cues as larvae either developed a preference for (spent >50 % of their time in the cue) or increased their attraction to (increased preference but did not spend >50 % of their time in the cue) the cue when re-exposed as settlers. Results indicate not only the capacity for imprinting but also the ability to adjust innate preferences after early exposure to a chemical cue. To test ecological relevance in the natural system, recruits were collected from anemones and related to their parents, using genetic parentage analysis, providing information on the natal anemone species and the species chosen at settlement. Results demonstrated that recruits did not preferentially return to their natal species, conflicting with laboratory results indicating the importance imprinting might have in habitat recognition.

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Acknowledgments

This project was conducted under ethics approval no. A1264 and followed all guidelines for the country in which it took place. Staff at the James Cook University Marine Aquarium complex provided excellent logistic support. We would like to thank M. Noble, M. Berumen, G. Almany, and V. Messmer for help with fish collection, the crew of the MV FeBrina for all of their help and support, the traditional owners of the reefs for access to the sites and R. Manassa and J. Rummer for critically evaluating the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, 4811, Townsville, QLD, Australia

    Danielle L. Dixson, Geoffrey P. Jones & Philip L. Munday

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

    Danielle L. Dixson, Geoffrey P. Jones, Philip L. Munday & Morgan S. Pratchett

  3. School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Danielle L. Dixson

  4. Unite Mixte de Recherche 5542, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-EPHE-UPVD, Universite de Perpignan, 66860, Perpignan Cedex, France

    Serge Planes

  5. Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, Woods Hole, MA, 02543, USA

    Simon R. Thorrold

Authors
  1. Danielle L. Dixson
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  2. Geoffrey P. Jones
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  3. Philip L. Munday
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  4. Serge Planes
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  5. Morgan S. Pratchett
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  6. Simon R. Thorrold
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Danielle L. Dixson.

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Communicated by Jeff Shima.

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Dixson, D.L., Jones, G.P., Munday, P.L. et al. Experimental evaluation of imprinting and the role innate preference plays in habitat selection in a coral reef fish. Oecologia 174, 99–107 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2755-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-013-2755-z

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