Social flexibility to balance habitat fragmentation? Insights from the Mediterranean cave‐dwelling cardinalfish Apogon imberbis

Abstract

AbstractThe Mediterranean cave‐dwelling cardinalfish Apogon imberbis shows a surprising panmixia for a brooding species inhabiting a fragmented habitat. This is partly attributed to the plasticity of its aggregative behavior, ranging from solitary to large schools. This plasticity allows this cardinalfish to take advantage of a wide variety of shadowed shelters, ranging from small cracks to large caves, which promotes population connectivity. This paper explores whether social flexibility can be the mechanism behind such behavioral plasticity, and the resulting ecological and evolutionary advantages in fragmented habitats. It also explores the limits of the application of this hypothesis to A. imberbis. Finally, it proposes possible experiments to unravel the origin of the behavioral plasticity and the exceptional connectivity of this cardinalfish.