IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/beheco/v34y2023i1p19-32..html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Higher ultraviolet skin reflectance signals submissiveness in the anemonefish, Amphiprion akindynos

Author

Listed:
  • Laurie J Mitchell
  • Fabio Cortesi
  • N Justin Marshall
  • Karen L Cheney

Abstract

Ultraviolet (UV) vision is widespread among teleost fishes, of which many exhibit UV skin colors for communication. However, aside from its role in mate selection, few studies have examined the information UV signaling conveys in other socio-behavioral contexts. Anemonefishes (subfamily, Amphiprioninae) live in a fascinating dominance hierarchy, in which a large female and male dominate over non-breeding subordinates, and body size is the primary cue for dominance. The iconic orange and white bars of anemonefishes are highly UV-reflective, and their color vision is well tuned to perceive the chromatic contrast of skin, which we show here decreases in the amount of UV reflectance with increasing social rank. To test the function of their UV-skin signals, we compared the outcomes of staged contests over dominance between size-matched Barrier Reef anemonefish (Amphiprion akindynos) in aquarium chambers viewed under different UV-absorbing filters. Fish under UV-blocking filters were more likely to win contests, where fish under no-filter or neutral-density filter were more likely to submit. For contests between fish in no-filter and neutral density filter treatments, light treatment had no effect on contest outcome (win/lose). We also show that sub-adults were more aggressive toward smaller juveniles placed under a UV filter than a neutral density filter. Taken together, our results show that UV reflectance or UV contrast in anemonefish can modulate aggression and encode dominant and submissive cues, when changes in overall intensity are controlled for.

Suggested Citation

  • Laurie J Mitchell & Fabio Cortesi & N Justin Marshall & Karen L Cheney, 2023. "Higher ultraviolet skin reflectance signals submissiveness in the anemonefish, Amphiprion akindynos," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 34(1), pages 19-32.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:beheco:v:34:y:2023:i:1:p:19-32.
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/beheco/arac089
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Matteo Griggio & Alessandro Devigili & Herbert Hoi & Andrea Pilastro, 2009. "Female ornamentation and directional male mate preference in the rock sparrow," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 20(5), pages 1072-1078.
    2. Peter Buston, 2003. "Size and growth modification in clownfish," Nature, Nature, vol. 424(6945), pages 145-146, July.
    3. Mark L. Roberts & Erica Ras & Anne Peters, 2009. "Testosterone increases UV reflectance of sexually selected crown plumage in male blue tits," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 20(3), pages 535-541.
    4. Monica Gagliano, 2008. "On the spot: the absence of predators reveals eyespot plasticity in a marine fish," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 19(4), pages 733-739.
    5. Mélissa Martin & Sandrine Meylan & Claudy Haussy & Beatriz Decencière & Samuel Perret & Jean-François Le Galliard, 2016. "UV color determines the issue of conflicts but does not covary with individual quality in a lizard," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 27(1), pages 262-270.
    6. Violaine Jourdie & Benoît Moureau & Andrew T. D. Bennett & Philipp Heeb, 2004. "Ultraviolet reflectance by the skin of nestlings," Nature, Nature, vol. 431(7006), pages 262-262, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lindsay J. Henderson & Britt J. Heidinger & Neil P. Evans & Kathryn E. Arnold, 2013. "Ultraviolet crown coloration in female blue tits predicts reproductive success and baseline corticosterone," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 24(6), pages 1299-1305.
    2. Daisuke Kojima & Suguru Mori & Masaki Torii & Akimori Wada & Rika Morishita & Yoshitaka Fukada, 2011. "UV-Sensitive Photoreceptor Protein OPN5 in Humans and Mice," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(10), pages 1-12, October.
    3. Martin L Hing & O Selma Klanten & Mark Dowton & Kylie R Brown & Marian Y L Wong, 2018. "Repeated cyclone events reveal potential causes of sociality in coral-dwelling Gobiodon fishes," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(9), pages 1-22, September.
    4. Ian M. Hamilton, 2013. "The effects of behavioral plasticity and leadership on the predictions of optimal skew models," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 24(2), pages 444-456.
    5. Shu, Shu-miao & Zhu, Wan-ze & Kontsevich, George & Zhao, Yang-yi & Wang, Wen-zhi & Zhao, Xiao-xiang & Wang, Xiao-dan, 2021. "A discrete model of ontogenetic growth," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 460(C).
    6. Akihisa Hattori, 2012. "Determinants of body size composition in limited shelter space: why are anemonefishes protandrous?," Behavioral Ecology, International Society for Behavioral Ecology, vol. 23(3), pages 512-520.
    7. Stefanie E P Lahaye & Marcel Eens & Veerle M Darras & Rianne Pinxten, 2014. "Bare-Part Color in Female Budgerigars Changes from Brown to Structural Blue following Testosterone Treatment but Is Not Strongly Masculinized," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(1), pages 1-11, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:oup:beheco:v:34:y:2023:i:1:p:19-32.. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Oxford University Press (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/beheco .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.