Cryptic effects of biological invasions: Reduction of the aggressive behaviour of a native fish under the influence of an "invasive" biomolecule

PLoS One. 2017 Sep 29;12(9):e0185620. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185620. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

The invasive green alga Caulerpa cylindracea has become an important component of the diet of the Mediterranean white seabream Diplodus sargus. As a consequence of this "exotic diet", the algal bisindolic alkaloid caulerpin accumulates in the fish tissues. Although the compound shows structural similarity to endogenous indolamines that modulate animal behaviour, the potential impact of caulerpin on fish behaviour still remains unexplored. In this report, behavioural experiments both on groups and on single fish responding towards a mirror were performed under different doses of dietary caulerpin. Differences between treated and control groups for each behaviour and for the overall aggressive pattern during the different experimental phases showed that the aggressiveness of D. sargus decreased with the administration of caulerpin. These results call the attention to a still unexplored potential ability of bioactive metabolites from marine invasive species, to alter the behaviour on native species, with putative negative effects on patterns of fish growth and population dynamics.

MeSH terms

  • Aggression*
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal*
  • Chlorophyta*
  • Introduced Species*
  • Sea Bream / physiology*

Grants and funding

This study was funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia - FCT (partially FEDER funded), now included in MARE (UID/MAR/04292/2013) (MARE/ISPA-IU), by MIUR (The Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research) (PRIN 2012, CAULERFISH project), and by the EU FP7 PERSEUS Project. L.M. PhD grant was supported by Unisalento BIOFORIU infrastructure. F.A. postdoctoral fellowship was supported by FCT (SFRH/BPD/63170/2009). This work was also supported by a MARE/ISPA-IU project aiming for the biological monitoring of the Marine Protected Area of Avencas, financed by the Environmental Municipal Company of Cascais (EMAC, SA)(http://www.cm-cascais.pt/empresa-municipal/cascais-ambiente), through direct invitation following public contract procedures (int. reference 009.DMT.2016). The funder or individuals employed or contracted by the funder played no role in the research.