Original press release at the University of Wollongong
Habitat-specialist coral reef fishes, like the Sleeper Gold Head Goby or Valenciennea strigata (pictured), have highly variable mating systems.
Researchers at UOW and Boston University have published intriguing insights into animal social systems.
After reviewing recent research based on the study of habitat-specialist coral reef fishes, Dr Marian Wong from UOW’s School of Biological Sciences and Boston University’s Professor Peter Buston, have published insights in BioScience into the reasons for female reproductive suppression, group living and bidirectional sex change – a phenomenon which allows many marine fish species to change sex when needed.
“Habitat specialist reef fishes have taught us many things about the evolutionary ecology of mating, social and sexual systems,” Dr Wong said.
“Despite their ecological quirkiness, our review demonstrates that they have been instrumental in testing the generality and robustness of key concepts that are widely applicable to other taxonomic groups.”
Evolutionary biologist, Dr Wong, said in order to understand how individuals and societies as a whole function, we need to first understand mating systems.
“Mating system research is of critical importance – since natural selection shapes all aspects of an individual’s behaviour to maximise its genetic contribution to the next generation,” she said.
“The type of mating system plays an important role in the expression of other behaviours, particularly the decision whether to form groups, and in what direction to change sex.”
Dr Wong said small-bodied habitat-specialist reef fishes, which include such species as the Pomacentridae (damselfish), Gobiidae (goby), Caracanthidae (coral croucher), and Cirrhitidae (hawkfish) families, have highly variable mating systems, ranging from monogamy (one male mates with one female) and harem polygyny (one male mates with several females), to polygynandry (multiple males and females mate with each other).
They also exhibit great variability in social organisation, including pair and group formation, with group members’ being reproductive or non-reproductive depending on the mating system.
“This behavioural variability, despite the relative ecological similarity of these species, presents a unique opportunity to test the various hypotheses for the evolution of different social systems,” Professor Buston added.
Based on their insights, the researchers say that these fishes provide a wider perspective in explaining the evolution and maintenance of social systems than birds, mammals and insects, and therefore should be the focus of future tests of key concepts in evolutionary ecology.
Evolutionary biologist, Dr Marian Wong.
“In some cases, these diminutive coral-reef fishes serve as the only examples in which instrumental tests of key hypotheses have been performed, owing to the relative ease with which their habitat and social group structure can be manipulated in both the lab and field,” Dr Wong said.
“As such, these species should be the focus of future tests of key concepts in evolutionary ecology.”
Dr Wong has been granted funding to support a three year research project to further investigate evolution of sociality. Potential PhD students and postdoctoral researchers interested in being part of this research should contact Dr Wong.
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