6 research outputs found
Evolutionary variation in the expression of phenotypically plastic color vision in Caribbean mantis shrimps, genus Neogonodactylus
Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Springer for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Biology 150 (2006): 213-220, doi:10.1007/s00227-006-0313-5.Many animals have color vision systems that are well suited to their local environments.
Changes in color vision can occur over long periods (evolutionary time), or over relatively short
periods such as during development. A select few animals, including stomatopod crustaceans,
are able to adjust their systems of color vision directly in response to varying environmental
stimuli. Recently, it has been shown that juveniles of some stomatopod species that inhabit a
range of depths can spectrally tune their color vision to local light conditions through spectral
changes in filters contained in specialized photoreceptors. The present study quantifies the
potential for spectral tuning in adults of three species of Caribbean Neogonodactylus
stomatopods that differ in their depth ranges to assess how ecology and evolutionary history
influence the expression of phenotypically plastic color vision in adult stomatopods. After 12
weeks in either a full-spectrum âwhiteâ or a narrow-spectrum âblueâ light treatment, each of the
three species evidenced distinctive tuning abilities with respect to the light environment that
could be related to its natural depth range. A molecular phylogeny generated using
mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase C subunit 1 (CO-1) was used to determine whether tuning
abilities were phylogenetically or ecologically constrained. Although the sister taxa N. wennerae
and N. bredini both exhibited spectral tuning, their ecology (i.e. preferred depth range) strongly
influenced the expression of the phenotypically plastic color vision trait. Our results indicate
that adult stomatopods have evolved the ability to undergo habitat-specific spectral tuning,
allowing rapid facultative physiological modification to suit ecological constraints.This research was funded partially by NSF
grant (IBN-0235820) to TWC and Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid to AGC and by the National Coral
Reef Institute through a subaward to PHB and RL Caldwell through the NOAA Coastal Ocean
Program under award #NA16OA2413, to Nova Southeastern University
Local processes strongly influence post-bleaching benthic recovery in the Lakshadweep Islands
The atoll reefs of the Lakshadweep, in the Indian Ocean suffered a catastrophic mortality of hard coral in the wake of the El Niño event of 1998. This study tracked changes to coral and other benthic elements in three atolls in the Lakshadweep from 2000 to 2003. The recovery of coral was highly site-specific, and appeared to be driven by differences in post-settlement survival of coral recruits, that were in turn, influenced by the local hydrodynamics of the atolls. Post bleaching recovery was highest on west-facing reefs, while recovery on east-facing reefs was very limited. However, no âphase-shiftâ to macroalgal dominated reefs was evident. High herbivore pressures were perhaps the most important control of macroalgae. Five years after the mass mortality, the genera that showed the maximum gains represented a mix of different susceptibilities to bleaching, while some genera that were not particularly susceptible to bleaching showed significant declines. These results suggest that decline or recovery of coral is likely dependent on individual life history strategies, post-recruitment survival, and contingency