The Response of the Tidepool Sculpin,Oligocottus maculosus,to Chemical Stimuli from Injured Conspecifics,Alarm Signalling in the Cottidae (Pisces)

The tidepool sculpin, Oligocottus maculosus, a small, cottiid fish of the Pacific coast of North America, shows reduced movement, less feeding activity, a greater tendency to attach itself to the substrate, and a shift from exposed areas to shelters and crevices when presented with water that has contained injured conspecifics. This alarm reaction does not occur in response to water that has contained uninjured, but disturbed, O. maculosus, or injured guppies, Poecilia reticulata, O. maculosus are not toxic or distasteful to piscine predators. They do possess large, epidermal sacciform cells that may contain the active chemical(s) released by injured individuals. This is the first report of chemical alarm signalling in Cottidae.     

210Pb dating by low background gamma counting

An intertidal fish community in Trinidad Bay, Humboldt County, California, was studied between November 1968 and May 1970. The nursery function of rocky tidal pools for juveniles of subtidal fishes was indicated by peaks in indices of seasonally abundant fish species in summer. The proportion of juveniles of seasonal species in the intertidal fish community rose significantly in collections of late spring and summer, to a maximum of 35% of the individuals collected in July. Annual dominance was relatively high due to abundant populations of the tidepool sculpin, Oligocottus maculosus, but two other fish species were also encountered in tidepools every month of the year.     

Strong homing does not predict high site fidelity in juvenile reef fishes

After being displaced, juvenile reef fishes are able to return home over large distances. This strong homing behaviour is extraordinary and may allow insights into the longer-term spatial ecology of fish communities. For example, it appears intuitive that strong homing behaviour should be indicative of long-term site fidelity. However, this connection has rarely been tested. We quantified the site fidelity of juvenile fishes of four species after returning home following displacement. Two species, parrotfishes and Pomacentrus moluccensis, showed significantly reduced site fidelity after returning home. On average, they disappeared from their home sites almost 3 d earlier than expected. Mortality or competitive exclusion does not seem to be the main reasons for their disappearance. Rather, we suggest an increased propensity to relocate after encountering alternative reef locations while homing. It appears that some juvenile fishes may have a higher innate spatial flexibility than their strict homing drive suggests.

     

Homing and home-site fidelity in rock-dwelling cichlids (Pisces: Teleostei) of Lake Malawi,Africa

Synopsis Existence of home site fidelity and homing ability was established for Pseudotropheus aurora. Territorial males stayed up to 1 1/2 years within the same territories. Females showed long-term fidelity to certain places. Transplantation experiments revealed that P. aurora males home over distances of up to at least 2500 m but would not cross deep water. The territorial males of five other sympartic species returned from 1000 m to their territories. The mechanisms and functions of homing in cichlids are discussed.     

Home sweet home: evidence for nest‐fidelity in the rocky intertidal fish,the shanny Lipophrys pholis

The ability to be faithful to a particular area or site was analysed in the shanny Lipophrys pholis. Using passive integrated transponders, adults from a population of L. pholis at Cabo Raso, Portugal, were followed over a period of 3 years. The findings showed that site fidelity is a consistent behaviour during the breeding season with specific breeding males being found only in particular sectors within the area, and in specific nests throughout the years. The fact that, in general, L. pholis individuals were absent from the study area during the non‐breeding season and breeding males were recorded returning to the same nests and sectors for consecutive breeding seasons suggests that they have developed excellent homing abilities. Translocation data corroborate this idea showing that breeding males successfully returned to their nests after a displacement of >100 m. Altogether, these findings highlight the relevance of life‐history traits (e.g. nesting) in the conditioning of site fidelity and homing for this species of rocky intertidal fish, and more importantly, provide evidence for the need of a well‐developed navigational system.     

Relationship between body size and homing ability in the genus Osmia (Hymenoptera; Megachilidae)

Abstract 1. The maximum homing ability of female bees, that is, their capacity to return to the nest after being displaced a certain distance, is considered to be an estimate of their maximum foraging distance. 2. The present study provides data on homing ability and body weight for Osmia lignaria and combines them with data for five other congenerics, O. rufa, O. cornuta, O. pedicornis, O. cornifrons, and O. emarginata for analysis. These species are important pollinators of spring‐flowering plants, and some have been developed as commercial crop pollinators. 3. It is shown that homing ability is positively and linearly related to body weight (r² = 0.81; P = 0.01). 4. These results should be of use in selecting Osmia species as potential crop pollinators and establishing adequate buffer distances around genetically modified crops.     

Distribution and abundance patterns of rocky intertidal fishes in central California

Synopsis Distribution patterns and relative abundances were determined for rocky intertidal fishes in central California. Distributions were described relative to a categorization scheme of tidepools based on certain biotic and physical criteria. The fishes displayed a variety of distributions over tidepool categories and showed some segregation within categories.Cottids were the predominant tidepool fishes encountered, withOligocottus snyderi andClinocottus analis comprising 62% of all captures. The cebidichthyidCebidichthys violaceus and the stichaeidAnoplarchus purpurescens were also relatively common and dominated the out-of-water microhabitat.Oligocottus snyderi showed a minor shift in distribution over tidepool categories between seasons, and C. analis showed none, but both species varied substantially in abundance. Temporal changes in abundance of the more common species indicated seasonal trends, but the duration of the census period was insufficient to verify this.It is concluded that while species interactions may have influenced the observed patterns of habitat partitioning, the roles of predation and competition cannot be unambiguously defined. Presently, neither these nor historical factors can be discounted from having significantly influenced the evolution of the intertidal fish community.     

Home‐site fidelity and homing behavior of the big‐headed turtle Platysternon megacephalum

Site fidelity refers to the restriction of dispersal distance of an animal and its tendency to return to a stationary site. To our knowledge, the homing ability of freshwater turtles and their fidelity is reportedly very low in Asia. We examined mark–recapture data spanning a 4‐year period in Diaoluoshan National Nature Reserve, Hainan Province, China, to investigate the site fidelity and homing behavior of big‐headed turtles Platysternon megacephalum. A total of 11 big‐headed turtles were captured, and all individuals were used in this mark–recapture study. The site fidelity results showed that the adult big‐headed turtles (n = 4) had a 71.43% recapture rate in the original site after their release at the same site, whereas the juveniles (n = 1) showed lower recapture rates (0%). Moreover, the homing behavior results showed that the adults (n = 5) had an 83.33% homing rate after displacement. Adult big‐headed turtles were able to return to their initial capture sites (home) from 150 to 2,400 m away and precisely to their home sites from either upstream or downstream of their capture sites or even from other streams. However, none of the juveniles (n = 4) returned home, despite only being displaced 25–150 m away. These results indicated that the adult big‐headed turtles showed high fidelity to their home site and strong homing ability. In contrast, the juvenile turtles may show an opposite trend but further research is needed.     

A new species of Malmiana (Oligochaeta: Hirudinida: Piscicolidae) from tidepool fishes in northern California

Malmiana buthi n. sp. is described from the body and fins of the fluffy sculpin, Oligocottus snyderi, the tidepool sculpin, Oligocottus maculosus, and the woolly sculpin, Clinocottus analis, collected from tidepools at Horseshoe Cove on the Bodega Marine Reserve in Sonoma County, California. Prevalence of the leech was 32.6% on live-caught O. snyderi; mean intensity on O. snyderi was 3.3 leeches per fish, with a range from 1 to 7. The leech is not known to exceed 8 mm total length. The body is smooth, lacking papillae, tubercles, or pulsatile vesicles. Two pairs of crescentiform eyes are present on the oral sucker, and 1 pair of punctiform eyes occurs on the second annulus of the trachelosome. The caudal sucker has 14 small punctiform ocelli spaced evenly around the margin. The last 9 segments of the urosome have pairs of large punctiform ocelli both dorsally and ventrally. Body and caudal sucker pigmentation is uniformly reddish brown dorsally and ventrally with segental, lateral, unpigmented areas on both the urosome and trachelosome; pigmentation on the oral sucker is in the form of a cross. There are 5 pairs of testisacs; accessory gland cells on the atrial cornua and vector tissue are absent.     

Homing ability of adult cardinalfish is affected by elevated carbon dioxide

The levels of carbon dioxide (CO₂) predicted for the oceans by the end of this century have recently been shown to impair olfactory discrimination in larval fishes. However, whether this disruption extends to olfactory-mediated behaviour in adult fishes is unknown. In many fishes, adult survival and reproduction can be critically dependent upon navigation to home sites. We tested the effects that near-future levels of CO₂ (550, 700 or 950 ppm) have on the ability of adult five-lined cardinalfish, Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus, to home to their diurnal resting sites after nocturnal feeding. Cardinalfish exposed to elevated CO₂ exhibited impaired ability to distinguish between odours of home- versus foreign-site conspecifics in pair-wise choice experiments. A displacement experiment demonstrated that fish from all CO₂ treatments displayed a 22–31% reduction in homing success compared with control fish when released at 200 m from home sites. While CO₂-exposed cardinalfish released directly back onto home sites exhibited similar site fidelity to control subjects, behaviour at home sites was affected, with CO₂-exposed fish exhibiting increased activity levels and venturing further from shelter. This study demonstrates that the potential disruption of chemosensory mechanisms in fishes due to rising CO₂ levels in the ocean extend to critical adult behaviours.     

Seasonal changes in morphometric and biochemical endpoints in northern pike (Esox lucius), burbot (Lota lota) and slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus)

1. Morphometric and biochemical endpoints were used to assess growth and energetics in young‐of‐the‐year (YOY) northern pike (Esox lucius), YOY burbot (Lota lota) and slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) collected upstream and downstream of a uranium mining operation in northern Saskatchewan, Canada. 2. Water sampled at sites downstream of uranium mining and milling effluent discharge was higher in certain trace metals (arsenic, molybdenum), ions (conductivity, hardness, ammonia and sulphate) and total dissolved solids compared with ecologically similar reference sites. 3. Overwinter survival potential was estimated by determining total body lipids and total body triglycerides in fishes collected in late autumn and early spring. Two‐factor anova indicated no site or season differences in total body lipids or triglycerides in YOY northern pike. In spring, burbot collected from the exposure site were higher in total body lipids and triglycerides compared with the previous autumn and compared with fish collected from the reference site. Slimy sculpin from both exposure and reference sites had lower total body lipid and triglyceride content in spring compared with the previous autumn. In addition, sculpin from the exposure site had lower total body lipids and triglycerides in spring compared with fish collected from the reference site. 4. Biochemical estimates of fish growth (muscle RNA/DNA ratio and muscle protein concentration) exhibited clear seasonal differences, with consistent decreases in this endpoint for all fish species in spring relative to the previous autumn at both exposure and reference sites. 5. Results for total body lipids and triglycerides were inconclusive and inconsistent between species and exposure scenarios. However, all species exhibited a similar seasonal decrease in muscle protein and to a lesser extent, muscle RNA/DNA ratio.     

Ability to home in small site‐attached coral reef fishes

The ability of two common, site‐attached coral‐reef fishes to return to their home corals after displacement was investigated in a series of field experiments at One Tree Island, southern Great Barrier Reef. The humbug Dascyllus aruanus was displaced up to 250 m, with 42% of individuals returning home, irrespective of body size, displacement, direction (up or across currents) and route complexity, while for the lemon damselfish Pomacentrus moluccensis 35% of individuals returned overall, with 33% from the greatest displacement, 100 m along a reef edge. Given that the home range of both species is <1 m², over their 10+ year life span, the mechanisms and motivations for such homing ability are unclear but it may allow resilience if fishes are displaced by storm events, allowing rapid return to home corals.     

Growth and reproduction of the tidepool sculpinOligocottus maculosus

Growth and reproduction of tidepool sculpins (Oligocottus maculosus) from three sites in Puget Sound, Washington State, USA were characterized. One site was a sandy, gently sloping beach, the second was an exposed rock headland with minimal algal cover, and the third was an exposed rock headland with numerous tidepools containing abundant algal cover. Length-weight relationships for sculpins did not differ significantly between sexes within sites. Population age structure, growth rate and recruitment varied among the three study sites using data pooled across both sexes. Young-of-the-year sculpins comprised 91% of the population at the exposed headland site with minimal algal cover but only 6% at the headland with abundant algal cover. Selective predation by great blue herons (Ardea herodias) upon tidepool sculpins larger than 45 mm total length assisted in the maintainance of these age structures. A maximum gonadosomatic index of 28.5 was calculated; this index correlated poorly with either age, length or somatic weight. Diameters of unshed ova from preserved tidepool sculpins sampled prior to spawning fell into three classes. Comparison of the mean egg size of each mode and the number of modes present in preserved sculpins with similar data from tidepool sculpins that spawned in the laboratory suggested that spawning occurred twice yearly from at least January through August.     

Movement behaviour of the small benthic Rhine sculpin <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cottus</Emphasis> <Emphasis Type="Italic">rhenanus</Emphasis> (Freyhof,Kottelat &; Nolte, 2005) as revealed by radio-telemetry and pit-tagging

From February 2006 to June 2007, we followed the movement patterns of the Rhine sculpin (Cottus rhenanus) by combining short-term radio-telemetry (n = 10 radio-tagged sculpin with a miniature 0.5-g transmitter) and long-term individual (PIT-tag) mark-recapture (n = 452 PIT-tagged sculpin during six removal electric fishing operations) studies in a small tributary of the River Meuse, Belgium. During a 25- to 27-day period, the radio-tracked sculpin displayed various mobility patterns, showing frequent movement from one day to another and longitudinal home ranges from 7 to 46 m, with cumulative distances up to 149 m. During the mark-recapture study, most (99%) recaptured PIT-tagged individuals moved from their original 5-m long site, subsequently using longitudinal home ranges between 5 and 435 m (mean, 50 m; median, 20 m). The most common movement behaviour was alternation between upstream and downstream movements (62%), followed by directional upstream (26%) and directional downstream (11%) movement. Using the latest available techniques, this study builds on the current knowledge on the Cottus genus and closes gaps in the comprehension of sculpin movement and home range at a scale that had not been investigated to date.     

Rocky intertidal fish communities of California: temporal and spatial variation

Synopsis We examined data from our own and published collections of intertidal and shallow littoral fishes of the North American Pacific Coast with respect to temporal and spatial trends in species composition and dominance. We compared (1) recent and past intertidal collections made five and seven years apart, respectively, for two California localities, (2) intertidal collections from twelve localities in California, Oregon, and British Columbia, and (3) intertidal versus subtidal collections at one California locality. Temporal comparisons indicated substantially lower abundance of the cottid Oligocottus snyderi at two California localities during 1984, at one locality due to depressed abundance of young. Interannual differences in abundances suggested that other tidepool fish assemblages undergo significant changes as well. Geographical comparisons indicated general similarity in species composition, with cottids predominating in tidepools although several other families also were well represented (e.g., Stichaeidae, Scorpaenidae). Eel-shaped stichaeids and pholids occurred at high densities in exposed boulder fields. Both the tidepool and boulder field assemblages showed north-south changes in species abundances. Comparison of collections from the intertidal and subtidal zones at one California locality demonstrated that fishes of these habitats form two essentially distinct assemblages, with most species restricted to or concentrated in one or the other habitat.     

Alterations in the grazing activities of cased caddisfly larvae in response to variations in predation risk and resource level

Flexible behavioral response to avoid encountering predators has never been reported in lotic, cased caddisfly larvae with low mobility. However, an earlier laboratory experiment found the growth of such a caddisfly species, Glossosoma sp., decreased in the presence of a predatory sculpin, Cottus nozawae. We conducted laboratory experiments to test whether Glossosoma responses to sculpin varied according to resource level and/or time of day. Lower periphyton biomass resulted in increased movement at any time of day, but was followed by decreased grazing success of Glossosoma in the morning when they were sampled. Although sculpins were active in the morning, evening and night but never in the afternoon, movements of Glossosoma were suppressed by sculpin stimuli only in the morning, when food intake of Glossosoma also decreased, regardless of periphyton biomass. Glossosoma reduced the risk of predation by sculpin by flexibly controlling its grazing activities during the most risky period of the day (i.e. morning). Even in the morning in the presence of sculpin, lower resource levels resulted in longer movement distances similar to those in predator-free conditions, suggesting that lower resource availability promotes predation risk in natural streams inhabited by predatory sculpin.     

Consequences of marine barriers for genetic diversity of the coral‐specialist yellowbar angelfish from the Northwestern Indian Ocean

Ocean circulation, geological history, geographic distance, and seascape heterogeneity play an important role in phylogeography of coral‐dependent fishes. Here, we investigate potential genetic population structure within the yellowbar angelfish (Pomacanthus maculosus) across the Northwestern Indian Ocean (NIO). We then discuss our results with respect to the above abiotic features in order to understand the contemporary distribution of genetic diversity of the species. To do so, restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (RAD‐seq) was utilized to carry out population genetic analyses on P. maculosus sampled throughout the species’ distributional range. First, genetic data were correlated to geographic and environmental distances, and tested for isolation‐by‐distance and isolation‐by‐environment, respectively, by applying the Mantel test. Secondly, we used distance‐based and model‐based methods for clustering genetic data. Our results suggest the presence of two putative barriers to dispersal; one off the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula and the other off northern Somalia, which together create three genetic subdivisions of P. maculosus within the NIO. Around the Arabian Peninsula, one genetic cluster was associated with the Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden in the west, and another cluster was associated with the Arabian Gulf and the Sea of Oman in the east. Individuals sampled in Kenya represented a third genetic cluster. The geographic locations of genetic discontinuities observed between genetic subdivisions coincide with the presence of substantial upwelling systems, as well as habitat discontinuity. Our findings shed light on the origin and maintenance of genetic patterns in a common coral reef fish inhabiting the NIO, and reinforce the hypothesis that the evolution of marine fish species in this region has likely been shaped by multiple vicariance events.     

Estimates of nocturnal home-range size of the adult Japanese fluvial sculpin, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Cottus pollux</Emphasis> (Pisces: Cottidae) in relation to bottom topography and sampling intervals

I have estimated nocturnal home-range size for 24 individuals of the adult Japanese fluvial sculpin, Cottus pollux (large-egg type) by direct observation on a single night. On average, sculpin used 10.5 focal points (where they executed ambush predation) at night and stayed for 93.1 min at each point. Home-range size (mean 9.8 m², range 0.3–79.9 m²), which was calculated by use of the minimum convex polygon method, was positively correlated with the number of focal points. The swimming paths and focal points used by each sculpin often depended on the configuration of rocks on the streambed, suggesting the importance of bottom topography to home-range use by the sculpin. More than one-third of the sculpins returned to within 1 m² of the point of original capture and release; this provided evidence of their homing ability. Comparison of nocturnal home-range size and Schoener’s ratio (the amount of temporal autocorrelation) with the length of sampling intervals suggested that sampling intervals of 2 h through the dark period, which resulted in a 70% match with real home-range measurements and approximately half of the data sets became independent, provide the most accurate information for predicting the nocturnal home-range size of the sculpin.