Reciprocal phenotypic plasticity in a predator-prey interaction between larval amphibians.
In biological interactions, phenotypic change in interacting organisms induced by their interaction partners causes a substantial shift in some environmental factor of the partners, which may subsequently change their phenotype in response to that modified environmental factor. Few examples of such arms-race-like plastic responses, known as reciprocal phenotypic plasticity, have been identified in predator-prey interactions. We experimentally identified a reciprocal defensive plastic response of a prey species against a predator with a predaceous phenotype using a model system of close predator-prey interaction. Rana pirica tadpoles (the prey species) were reared with larvae of the salamander Hynobius retardatus (the predator species) having either a predaceous or a typical, nonpredaceous phenotype. The H. retardatus larvae with the predaceous phenotype, which is known to be induced by the presence of R. pirica tadpoles, induced a more defensive phenotype in the tadpoles than did larvae with the typical phenotype. The result suggests that the reciprocal phenotypic plasticity of R. pirica tadpoles is in response to a phenotype-specific signal under a close-signal recognition process.
Kishida
Osamu
O
Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Japan. kishida@fish.hokudai.ac.jp
Mizuta
Yuuki
Y
Nishimura
Kinya
K
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000819:Animal Communication; D000818:Animals; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology; D020387:Food Chain; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D008954:Models, Biological; D010641:Phenotype; D011898:Ranidae / Q000502:physiology*; D014562:Caudata / Q000502:physiology*