Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
Volume 284, Issue 1851, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2838
Keywords
male-male competition; melanocortin receptors; stress; hormones; fish; pigmentation
Categories
Funding
- European Union International Outgoing Marie Curie fellowship
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Dwight W. and Blanche Faye Reeder Centennial Fellowship in Systematic and Evolutionary Biology
- [NSF-IOS 0843712]
- [1354942]
- [NSF-IOS 1501704]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The melanocortin system is a neuroendocrine system that regulates a range of physiological and behavioural processes. We examined the extent to which the melanocortin system simultaneously regulates colour and behaviour in the cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni. We found that yellowmales are more aggressive than blue males, in line with previous studies. We then found that exogenous alpha-melanocyte-stimulating hormone (alpha-MSH) increases yellowness of the body and dispersal of xanthophore pigments in both morphs. However, alpha-MSH had amorph-specific effect on aggression, with only blue males showing an increase in the rate of aggression. Exogenous agouti signalling peptide (ASIP), a melanocortin antagonist, did not affect coloration but reduced the rate of aggression in both colour morphs. Blue males had higher cortisol levels than yellow males. Neural gene expression of melanocortin receptors (mcr) and ligands was not differentially regulated between colour morphs. In the skin, however, mc1r and pro-opiomelanocortin (pomc) b were upregulated in blue males, while asip 1 was upregulated in yellow males. The effects of alpha-MSH on behaviour and body coloration, combinedwithmorph-specific regulation of the stress response and the melanocortin system, suggest that the melanocortin systemcontributes to the polymorphism in behaviour and coloration in A. burtoni.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available