Circulating androgens are influenced by parental nest defense in a wild teleost fish |
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Authors: | Constance M O��Connor Kathleen M Gilmour Glen Van Der Kraak Steven J Cooke |
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Institution: | 1. Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Ottawa-Carleton Institute of Biology, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada 2. Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, 30 Marie Curie, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada 3. Department of Integrative Biology, College of Biological Sciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada 4. Institute of Environmental Science, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, K1S 5B6, Canada
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Abstract: | While social interactions influence vertebrate endocrine regulation, the dynamics of regulation in relation to specific behaviors have not been clearly elucidated. In the current study, we investigated whether androgens (testosterone) or glucocorticoids (cortisol) play a functional role in aggressive offspring defense behavior in wild smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), a teleost fish with sole paternal care. We measured circulating testosterone and cortisol concentrations in plasma samples taken from parental males following a simulated nest intrusion by a common nest predator, the bluegill sunfish (Lepomis macrochirus). To understand whether endocrine regulation changes across the parental care period, we looked both at males guarding fresh eggs and at males guarding hatched embryos. Plasma testosterone levels increased in males subjected to a simulated nest intrusion when compared to sham controls. Testosterone concentrations in males guarding embryos were lower than in males guarding fresh eggs, but circulating testosterone was positively correlated with the level of aggression towards the nest predator at both offspring development stages. However, there was no increase in cortisol levels following a simulated nest intrusion, and no relationship between cortisol and any measured parameter. These results suggest that androgens play an important role in promoting aggressive nest defense behavior in teleost fish. |
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