Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish

ABSTRACT The introduction of alien species poses a serious threat to native biodiversity, and mountain lake systems in the southwest of China are particularly vulnerable to the introduction of non‐native fish. The prey naivety hypothesis states that native species may not be able to recognize novel...

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Main Authors: Yuanfei Wang, Yudong Zhu, Liuyang He, Haoqi Yu, Xiuqin Lin, Jianghong Ran, Feng Xie
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2024-10-01
Series:Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70481
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author Yuanfei Wang
Yudong Zhu
Liuyang He
Haoqi Yu
Xiuqin Lin
Jianghong Ran
Feng Xie
author_facet Yuanfei Wang
Yudong Zhu
Liuyang He
Haoqi Yu
Xiuqin Lin
Jianghong Ran
Feng Xie
author_sort Yuanfei Wang
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT The introduction of alien species poses a serious threat to native biodiversity, and mountain lake systems in the southwest of China are particularly vulnerable to the introduction of non‐native fish. The prey naivety hypothesis states that native species may not be able to recognize novel introduced species due to a lack of common evolutionary background and therefore become easy targets, so the impacts of non‐native fish on mountain endemic amphibians need to be urgently assessed. In an ex‐situ experiment, we exposed the tadpoles of the Chaochiao Brown Frog (Rana chaochiaoensis), endemic to western China, to kairomones of both native and translocated fish species, and their phenotypic and genetic response patterns were compared. The results revealed significant phenotypic plasticity responses in total length (TOL), tail length (TL), and tail muscle width (TW) of tadpoles induced by native fish kairomone, while tadpoles exposed to translocated fish kairomone exhibited weaker phenotypic changes. At the transcriptional level, the number of differently expressed genes (DEGs) in the native fish treatment was 3.1‐fold (liver) and 52.6‐fold (tail muscle) higher than in the translocated fish treatment, respectively. There were more unique DEGs in the native fish treatment, primarily enriched in terms and pathways related to stress response, energy metabolism, and muscle development. The study revealed a lack of risk perception by native tadpoles toward novel non‐native fish, providing new evidence for the prey naivety hypothesis from both phenotypic and molecular perspectives. Future conservation efforts should prioritize assessing the impacts of non‐native fish on alpine and subalpine threatened and narrowly distributed amphibians. Additionally, prevention, early warning, monitoring, and removal of non‐native fish should be carried out as soon as possible.
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spelling doaj-art-4c482a1d6dca41b9964e64ad7726dc1a2025-08-20T02:32:14ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582024-10-011410n/an/a10.1002/ece3.70481Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native FishYuanfei Wang0Yudong Zhu1Liuyang He2Haoqi Yu3Xiuqin Lin4Jianghong Ran5Feng Xie6CAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization and Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu ChinaSichuan Liziping National Nature Reserve Shimian ChinaSichuan Liziping National Nature Reserve Shimian ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization and Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization and Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu ChinaKey Laboratory of Bio‐Resource and Eco‐Environment of the Ministry of Education, College of Life Sciences Sichuan University Chengdu ChinaCAS Key Laboratory of Mountain Ecological Restoration and Bioresource Utilization and Ecological Restoration Biodiversity Conservation Key Laboratory of Sichuan Province, Chengdu Institute of Biology Chinese Academy of Sciences Chengdu ChinaABSTRACT The introduction of alien species poses a serious threat to native biodiversity, and mountain lake systems in the southwest of China are particularly vulnerable to the introduction of non‐native fish. The prey naivety hypothesis states that native species may not be able to recognize novel introduced species due to a lack of common evolutionary background and therefore become easy targets, so the impacts of non‐native fish on mountain endemic amphibians need to be urgently assessed. In an ex‐situ experiment, we exposed the tadpoles of the Chaochiao Brown Frog (Rana chaochiaoensis), endemic to western China, to kairomones of both native and translocated fish species, and their phenotypic and genetic response patterns were compared. The results revealed significant phenotypic plasticity responses in total length (TOL), tail length (TL), and tail muscle width (TW) of tadpoles induced by native fish kairomone, while tadpoles exposed to translocated fish kairomone exhibited weaker phenotypic changes. At the transcriptional level, the number of differently expressed genes (DEGs) in the native fish treatment was 3.1‐fold (liver) and 52.6‐fold (tail muscle) higher than in the translocated fish treatment, respectively. There were more unique DEGs in the native fish treatment, primarily enriched in terms and pathways related to stress response, energy metabolism, and muscle development. The study revealed a lack of risk perception by native tadpoles toward novel non‐native fish, providing new evidence for the prey naivety hypothesis from both phenotypic and molecular perspectives. Future conservation efforts should prioritize assessing the impacts of non‐native fish on alpine and subalpine threatened and narrowly distributed amphibians. Additionally, prevention, early warning, monitoring, and removal of non‐native fish should be carried out as soon as possible.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70481kairomonesnative fishnon‐native fishprey naivety hypothesisRana chaochiaoensis tadpolestranscriptomics
spellingShingle Yuanfei Wang
Yudong Zhu
Liuyang He
Haoqi Yu
Xiuqin Lin
Jianghong Ran
Feng Xie
Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish
Ecology and Evolution
kairomones
native fish
non‐native fish
prey naivety hypothesis
Rana chaochiaoensis tadpoles
transcriptomics
title Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish
title_full Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish
title_fullStr Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish
title_full_unstemmed Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish
title_short Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Analysis Revealed a Lack of Risk Perception by Native Tadpoles Toward Novel Non‐Native Fish
title_sort phenotypic and transcriptomic analysis revealed a lack of risk perception by native tadpoles toward novel non native fish
topic kairomones
native fish
non‐native fish
prey naivety hypothesis
Rana chaochiaoensis tadpoles
transcriptomics
url https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.70481
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