Diet-induced phenotypic plasticity in head morphology in European eel elvers (Anguilla anguilla): the effects of hard vs soft food

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Diet-induced phenotypic plasticity in head morphology in European eel elvers (Anguilla anguilla): the effects of hard vs soft food Jens De Meyer1*, Joachim Christiaens1 and Dominique Adriaens1 1 Ghent University, Biology, Belgium By bone remodeling and changing of muscle volume, fish can adapt to changes in mechanical loads they are confronted with, including dietary changes such as prey hardness. This capability of a genotype to develop different phenotypes in response to varying environment is known as phenotypic plasticity. Differences in prey type being consumed might trigger such a phenotypic plasticity in fish. In European eel, two morphotypes exist: broadheads and narrowheads. Studies based on gut content have shown that broadheads consume larger and harder prey, such as fish, whereas narrowheads feed on smaller prey, such as benthic invertebrates. These studies, however, are performed on yellow eels with a minimum length of 30 cm, and only provide indirect evidence that head shape is affected by diet differences. Here, we performed a feeding experiment on glass eels that just swam up the European rivers to start feeding. These glass eels were captured and separated in three groups: one group was given hard feed requiring biting, the second group got soft feed that could be sucked in and the final group, which acted as a control group, was given a mixture of both. We found that hard feeders developed a broader general head width and postorbital region than soft feeders. This region is associated with the location of the jaw muscles, indicating that hard feeders develop larger muscles to cope with the harder prey. Hard feeders, however, also grew more slowly than soft feeders, suggesting that net energy uptake of hard feeders was lower as prey handling required more energy and time. Specimens of the control group, finally, developed intermediate head widths, implying that they are not fully adapted to feed on either hard or soft prey. In conclusion, this study provides the first direct evidence that diet influences the head shape of European eel. Keywords: dimorphism, Trophic plasticity, elver eel stage, Feeding Behavior, morphology Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Phylogeny, Systematics and Genetics Citation: De Meyer J, Christiaens J and Adriaens D (2015). Diet-induced phenotypic plasticity in head morphology in European eel elvers (Anguilla anguilla): the effects of hard vs soft food. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00022 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Oct 2015; Published Online: 04 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Mr. Jens De Meyer, Ghent University, Biology, Ghent, 9000, Belgium, jendmeye.demeyer@ugent.be Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jens De Meyer Joachim Christiaens Dominique Adriaens Google Jens De Meyer Joachim Christiaens Dominique Adriaens Google Scholar Jens De Meyer Joachim Christiaens Dominique Adriaens PubMed Jens De Meyer Joachim Christiaens Dominique Adriaens Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.