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Mini-talk + poster
Around a quarter of all recognised families of ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii) exhibit some form of parental care to increase the survival rate of their offspring1.The effectiveness of care in externally fertilised fishes can be significantly enhanced by the presence of a nest. A well-constructed and concealed nest provides shelter from predators and maintains sufficient levels of water flow that oxygenates eggs and removes metabolic waste. On an evolutionary timescale, the presence of a nest generates selective pressures for the nest holder to defend and maintain its nest and for nearby animals to exploit the structure2. In this study, undertaken as part of a PhD project at the University of St Andrews, I assess the impact of niche construction in freshwater and marine fishes using phylogenetic comparative methods, with a particular focus on nest building and parental care. So far, the process of nest construction in fish has only been investigated in experimental studies using model organisms such as sticklebacks and sand gobies. This study is the first to explore the global spread of nest-building habits in fish using the latest comparative methods. My work fits within a framework of a larger project on niche construction that tests whether artefact building generates consistent and predictable selection pressures on a macro-evolutionary scale across a broad taxonomic spectrum of animals. 1. Wootton, R. J., and C. Smith. 2014. Parental care. Pages 251–279 in R. J. Wootton and C. Smith, eds. Reproductive Biology of Teleost Fishes. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, U.K 2. Laland, K., Odling-Smee, J. & Endler, J. Niche construction, sources of selection and trait coevolution. Interface Focus 7, 20160147 (2017).
