Abstract
A major goal in marine ecology is to understand patterns of larval
dispersal and population connectivity. Dispersal plasticity allows for
adaptive variation in dispersal phenotypes in response to variation in
environmental conditions and may help to explain intraspecific variation
in dispersal distances. However, this phenomenon has not yet been
investigated in marine fishes. Here, we test the hypothesis that parents
produce larvae with different dispersal-related traits in response to
variation in environmental quality using the orange anemonefish,
Amphiprion percula. By experimentally manipulating food rations,
we show that parents produce larger offspring on low-food rations than
on high-food rations. However, there was no effect of parental diet on
larval critical swimming speed. We also found an effect on larval
otolith core size which, in combination with parentage analyses, may
provide a way to test the dispersal plasticity hypothesis in the field.
This study shows that parents can produce different larval phenotypes in
response to variation in environmental conditions, demonstrating
plasticity in a dispersal-related trait which may help to explain
observed variation in A. percula larval dispersal distances.
Incorporating dispersal plasticity into our understanding of marine
dispersal patterns may enhance our understanding of marine
metapopulation ecology, fisheries management, and conservation.