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Title: Does parental experience with visual and olfactory predator cues have consequences for offspring in guppies?
Parental effects, or parental phenotypes affecting offspring phenotypes, are widespread across taxa, yet there is significant variation within species regarding which offspring traits are affected. One reason for this observed variation could be the type of sensory cues present in the parental environment. By exposing parents to sensory cues containing different information about the same ecological stressor, we can determine whether information is integrated differently by parents based on cue type, leading to differential trait development in offspring. In this study, we utilized predator cues, which can be found in isolation and in combination in natural settings, to test whether cue type plays a role in differential phenotype expression in Trinidadian guppies, Poecilia reticulata. Parents were exposed to predator cues (visual, olfactory or both combined) over 14 days, after which we assessed life history traits, morphology and activity. Offspring were then raised with no predator cues and tested for morphology and activity in adulthood. No differences in life history traits were observed across 10 weeks. In line with previous findings, behaviour differed in both the parent and F1 generations in response to predator cues; however, effects were dependent on cue type and sex. Our results suggest that exposure to even a single sensory cue is strong enough to initiate a cascade of responses both in parent and F1 generations, and that interacting factors such as cue type and sex lend importance to understanding consequences of parent risk perception for offspring.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2021880
PAR ID:
10540710
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Publisher / Repository:
Animal Behaviour
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Animal Behaviour
Volume:
214
Issue:
C
ISSN:
0003-3472
Page Range / eLocation ID:
241 to 255
Subject(s) / Keyword(s):
developmental plasticity intergenerational plasticity parental effect Poecilia reticulata predation risk sensory cue transgenerational plasticity uncertainty
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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