Acclimation or innate protection of anemonefishes from sea anemones?

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Acclimation or innate protection of anemonefishes
from sea anemones?

• Joel K. Elliott and Richard N. Mariscal
• Copeia 1997(2) 284-289

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Background
Anemones have been reported to produce 4 classes
of cytolytic toxic proteins and peptides
Group 1 5-8 kDa (Tealia sp Radanthus sp)
form pores in phosphatidylcholine membranes Group
II 20 kDa basic actinoporin proteins
(Actiniidae Stichodactylidae) cation-selective
pores in sphingomyelin membranes Goup III 30-40
kDa (Aiptasiidae) -- cytolytic phospholipases80
kDa A 2 Group IV (Metridiidae) thiol-activated
cytolysin, inhibited by cholesterol and
phosphatides
Anderluh Macek (2002) Toxicon 40 111-124
Also neurotoxins
Condylactis toxin (blocker of crustacean sodium
channel inactivation)
Shapiro, B.I. (1968) Comp. Biochem. Physiol.
27(2) 519-524
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Anemone Fish Mathematics
(this is known as computational biology ?)
Anemone predator Fish prey
http//www.richard- seaman.com/ Underwater/
Philippines/Highlights/index.html
How come
(clownfish hungry anemone)
By Andrew Norton http//farm4.static.flickr.com/31
98/2724686704_656919d486_m.jpg

• ?

(dead fish sated anemone)?
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Previous work
Field-collected fish
Lab-raised fish (no anemones present except cases
in ovum)
Isolation
Days
Introduction
Reintroduction
Initially stung
Acclimation
Protected
Protected
Elliott, Mariscal Roux (1994) J. Exp. Mar.
Biol. Ecol. 179 99-113
Mariscal (1971) In T.C. Cheng, ed Aspects of the
biology of symbiosis
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Issues

• Differences in interpretation by different
  authors?
• Differences in terminology? (naïve ??)
• Differences in controls?

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Terminology

• Unacclimated no acclimation behavior
• Unprotected fish get stung
• Protected fish contacting anemone dont get
  stung

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Present work
Anemone
Hatchery-raised juvenile fish
Dascyllus test (non-symbiont)
18-20 mm std length
yes
Forced contact
Tentacles adhere ?
5 min exposure to anemone (care taken not to
damage mucus coat)
yes
no
Tentacles adhere ?
Protected
Not protected
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Results
Anemones
H. crispa S. haddoni M. doreensis

• clarkii
• (generalist)
• A. ocellaris
• (specialist?)
• Perideraion
• (specialist?)

All protected
All protected
80 protected
Fish
All protected
None protected
None protected
All protected
None protected
(not tested)
Natural associations
Unnatural associations
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Discussion
Anemones
H. crispa S. haddoni M. doreensis
Mostly protected against all anemone species
tested

• clarkii
• A. ocellaris
• A. perideraion

Non-lethal anemone
Fish
All protected
None protected
None protected
(Sabol 1992 disagrees)? individual variation
All protected
None protected (small n)
(not tested)
Natural associations
Unnatural associations
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Discussion

• No natural comprehensive protection
• Even protected fish exhibited acclimation
  behaviors
• Suggests acclimation may result in both a
  behavioral and physiological change
• Innate protection may involve mechanisms
  different from those of acclimation.

DH Given the variability in results, n is too
small Absence of a natural host for A.
ocellaris is not good Results are
suggestive but not convincing This study
needs to be done over correctly
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Discussion
Acclimation hypotheses

• Innately-protected fish possess protective or
  inert coat
• Acclimation may involve acquiring chemicals from
  water
• Or may involve fish coating themselves with
  anemone mucus
• (no innate anemone antigen production, but
  acquire antigens later)

• Fautin (1991) prediction
• Host generalists (e.g. A. clarkii) rely on
  adaptation
• Host specialists which? rely in innate
  mechanisms
• NOT supported by these observations

CONCLUSIONS Further studies are needed (i.e.
fund me ?)
?
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What about neurodiversity?
Phylogeny of Amphiprioninae (clownfish subfamily
of Pomacentrids that includes the non-symbiotic
Dascyllus) Amphiprion clarkii and other
generalists are not particularly basal
species, at variance with Elliott Mariscal
1997 Nor are specialist anemone fish more derived
Santini Polacco (2006) Gene 385 19-27
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What about neurodiversity?

• Other fish that seem to have convergently evolved
  resistance to cnidarian toxins
• Gulf butterfish Harvest fish? (said to feed on
  Lions manes)
• http//rc-anodizing.tripod.com/PEZT/animalsMM/je
  lly.htm
• Nomeus gronovii (man of war fish) lives among
  (and feeds on) tentacles of Portuguese man o war
  http//www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.p
  hp?id2461

en.petitchef.com/recipes/fish-name-in-tamil-f...
www.discoverlife.org/20/q?searchNomeusgronovii
Unresolved issue are these resistances only to
the hemolytics, or are they to the neurotoxins as
well (or in stead)?
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More to the story
MICHIO MURATA, KAZUKO MIYAGAWA-KOHSHIMA, KOJI
NAKANISHI, and YOKO NAYA Characterization of
Compounds That Induce Symbiosis Between Sea
Anemone and Anemone Fish Science 31 October
1986 Vol. 234. no. 4776, pp. 585 - 587
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