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Joseph A Sisneros - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Reproductive-state dependent changes in saccular hair cell density of the vocal male plainfin Midshipman Fish.
Hearing research, 2019Co-Authors: Nicholas R. Lozier, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:Abstract The plainfin Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus) is a nocturnal, seasonally breeding, intertidal-nesting teleost Fish that produces social acoustic signals for intraspecific communication. Type I or “nesting” males produce agonistic and reproductive-related acoustic signals including a multiharmonic advertisement call during the summer breeding season. Previous work showed that type I male auditory sensitivity of the saccule, the primary Midshipman auditory end organ, changes seasonally with reproductive state such that reproductive males become more sensitive and better suited than nonreproductive males to detect the dominant frequencies contained within type I vocalizations. Here, we examine whether reproductive type I males also exhibit reproductive-state dependent changes in hair cell (HC) density in the three putative auditory end organs (saccule, lagena, and utricle). We show that saccular HC density was greater in reproductive type I males compared to nonreproductive type I males, and that the increase in HC density occurs throughout the saccular epithelium in both the central and marginal epithelia regions. We also show as saccular HC density increases there is a concurrent decrease in saccular support cell (SC) density in reproductive type I males with no overall change in total cell density (i.e., HC + SC). In contrast, we did not observe any seasonal changes in HC density in the utricle or lagena between nonreproductive and reproductive type I males. In addition, we compare the saccular HC densities in reproductive type I males with that of reproductive females and show that females have greater saccular HC densities, which suggest a sexually dimorphic difference in HC receptor density between the two sexual phenotypes, at least during the summer breeding season.
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auditory evoked potentials of the plainfin Midshipman Fish porichthys notatus implications for directional hearing
The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Andrew D Brown, Ruiyu Zeng, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:ABSTRACT The plainfin Midshipman (Porichthys notatus) is an acoustically communicative teleost Fish. Here, we evaluated auditory evoked potentials (AEPs) in reproductive female Midshipman exposed to tones at or near dominant frequencies of the male Midshipman advertisement call. An initial series of experiments characterized AEPs at behaviorally relevant suprathreshold sound levels (130–140 dB SPL re. 1 µPa). AEPs decreased in magnitude with increasing stimulus frequency and featured a stereotyped component at twice the stimulus frequency. Recording electrode position was varied systematically and found to affect AEP magnitude and phase characteristics. Later experiments employed stimuli of a single frequency to evaluate contributions of the saccule to the AEP, with particular attention to the effects of sound source azimuth on AEP amplitude. Unilateral excision of saccular otoliths (sagittae) decreased AEP amplitude; unexpectedly, decreases differed for right versus left otolith excision. A final set of experiments manipulated the sound pressure-responsive swim bladder. Swim bladder excision further reduced the magnitude of AEP responses, effectively eliminating responses at the standard test intensity (130 dB SPL) in some animals. Higher-intensity stimulation yielded response minima at forward azimuths ipsilateral to the excised sagitta, but average cross-azimuth modulation generally remained slight. Collectively, the data underscore that electrode position is an essential variable to control in Fish AEP studies and suggest that in female Midshipman: (1) the saccule contributes to the AEP, but its directionality as indexed by the AEP is limited, (2) a left–right auditory asymmetry may exist and (3) the swim bladder provides gain in auditory sensitivity that may be important for advertisement call detection and phonotaxis.
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Sexually dimorphic swim bladder extensions enhance the auditory sensitivity of female plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus.
The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Orphal Colleye, Robert A. Mohr, Brooke J. Vetter, Lane Seeley, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:ABSTRACT The plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, is a seasonally breeding, nocturnal marine teleost Fish that produces acoustic signals for intraspecific social communication. Females rely on audition to detect and locate ‘singing’ males that produce multiharmonic advertisement calls in the shallow-water, intertidal breeding environments. Previous work showed that females possess sexually dimorphic, horn-like rostral swim bladder extensions that extend toward the primary auditory end organs, the saccule and lagena. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the rostral swim bladder extensions in females increase auditory sensitivity to sound pressure and higher frequencies, which potentially could enhance mate detection and localization in shallow-water habitats. We recorded the auditory evoked potentials that originated from hair cell receptors in the saccule of control females with intact swim bladders and compared them with those from treated females (swim bladders removed) and type I males (intact swim bladders lacking rostral extensions). Saccular potentials were recorded from hair cell populations in vivo while behaviorally relevant pure-tone stimuli (75–1005 Hz) were presented by an underwater speaker. The results indicate that control females were approximately 5–11 dB re. 1 µPa more sensitive to sound pressure than treated females and type I males at the frequencies tested. A higher percentage of the evoked saccular potentials were recorded from control females at frequencies >305 Hz than from treated females and type I males. This enhanced sensitivity in females to sound pressure and higher frequencies may facilitate the acquisition of auditory information needed for conspecific localization and mate choice decisions during the breeding season.
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Lagenar potentials of the vocal plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus
Journal of Comparative Physiology A, 2019Co-Authors: Brooke J. Vetter, Lane H. Seeley, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:The plainfin Midshipman Fish ( Porichthys notatus ) is a species of marine teleost that produces acoustic signals that are important for mediating social behavior. The auditory sensitivity of the saccule is well established in this species, but the sensitivity and function of the Midshipman’s putative auditory lagena are unknown. Here, we characterize the auditory-evoked potentials from hair cells in the lagena of reproductive type I males to determine the frequency response and auditory sensitivity of the lagena to behaviorally relevant acoustic stimuli. Lagenar potentials were recorded from the caudal and medial region of the lagena, while acoustic stimuli were presented by an underwater speaker. Our results indicate that the Midshipman lagena has a similar low-frequency sensitivity to that of the Midshipman saccule based on sound pressure and acceleration (re: 1 µPa and 1 ms^−2, respectively), but the thresholds of the lagena were higher across all frequencies tested. The relatively high auditory thresholds of the lagena may be important for encoding high levels of behaviorally relevant acoustic stimuli when close to a sound source.
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Dopaminergic neurons are preferentially responsive to advertisement calls and co-active with social behavior network nuclei in sneaker male Midshipman Fish
Brain research, 2018Co-Authors: Zachary N. Ghahramani, Joseph A Sisneros, Miky Timothy, Joshua Varughese, Paul M. ForlanoAbstract:Abstract Vocal species use acoustic signals to facilitate diverse behaviors such as mate attraction and territorial defense. However, little is known regarding the neural substrates that interpret such divergent conspecific signals. Using the plainfin Midshipman Fish model, we tested whether specific catecholaminergic (i.e., dopaminergic and noradrenergic) nuclei and nodes of the social behavior network (SBN) are differentially responsive following exposure to playbacks of divergent social signals in sneaker males. We chose sneaker (type II) males since they attempt to steal fertilizations from territorial type I males who use an advertisement call (hum) to attract females yet are also subjected to vocal agonistic behavior (grunts) by type I males. We demonstrate that induction of cFos (an immediate early gene product and proxy for neural activation) in two forebrain dopaminergic nuclei is greater in sneaker males exposed to hums but not grunts compared to ambient noise, suggesting hums preferentially activate these nuclei, further asserting dopamine as an important regulator of social-acoustic behaviors. Moreover, acoustic exposure to social signals with divergent salience engendered contrasting shifts in functional connectivity between dopaminergic nuclei and nodes of the SBN, supporting the idea that interactions between these two circuits may underlie adaptive decision-making related to intraspecific male competition.
Andrew H. Bass - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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To hum or not to hum: Neural transcriptome signature of courtship vocalization in a teleost Fish
2020Co-Authors: Joel A. Tripp, Ni Y. Feng, Andrew H. BassAbstract:Abstract For many animal species, vocal communication is a critical social behavior, often a necessary component of reproductive success. In addition to the role of vocal behavior in social interactions, vocalizations are often demanding motor acts. Through understanding the genes involved in regulating and permitting vertebrate vocalization, we can better understand the mechanisms regulating vocal and, more broadly, motor behaviors. Here, we use RNA-sequencing to investigate neural gene expression underlying the performance of an extreme vocal behavior, the courtship hum of the plainfin Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus). Single hums can last up to two hours and may be repeated throughout an evening of courtship activity. We asked whether vocal behavioral states are associated with specific gene expression signatures in key brain regions that regulate vocalization by comparing transcript levels in humming versus non-humming males. We find that the circadian-related genes period3 and Clock are significantly upregulated in the vocal motor nucleus and preoptic area-anterior hypothalamus, respectively, in humming compared to non-humming males, indicating that internal circadian clocks may differ between these divergent behavioral states. In addition, we identify suites of differentially expressed genes related to synaptic transmission, ion channels and transport, hormone signaling, and metabolism and antioxidant activity that may permit or support humming behavior. These results underscore the importance of the known circadian control of Midshipman humming and provide testable candidate genes for future studies of the neuroendocrine and motor control of energetically demanding courtship behaviors in Midshipman Fish and other vertebrate groups.
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phenotypic traits and resource quality as factors affecting male reproductive success in a toadFish
Behavioral Ecology, 2018Co-Authors: Aneesh P. H. Bose, Andrew H. Bass, Joseph A Sisneros, Karen M. Cogliati, Nick Luymes, Margaret A Marchaterre, Benjamin M Bolker, Sigal BalshineAbstract:In nature, it can be challenging to figure out whether success at attracting mates and reproducing is due to something intrinsic about an individual or something about the quality of the resources they possess. In a series of lab and field studies using the plainfin Midshipman Fish, we show that both factors are complex and that resource quality can impose a limit on reproductive success regardless of the quality of the resource owner.
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Gene expression underlying enhanced, steroid-dependent auditory sensitivity of hair cell epithelium in a vocal Fish
BMC genomics, 2015Co-Authors: Daniel J. Fergus, Ni Y. Feng, Andrew H. BassAbstract:Successful animal communication depends on a receiver’s ability to detect a sender’s signal. Exemplars of adaptive sender-receiver coupling include acoustic communication, often important in the context of seasonal reproduction. During the reproductive summer season, both male and female Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus) exhibit similar increases in the steroid-dependent frequency sensitivity of the saccule, the main auditory division of the inner ear. This form of auditory plasticity enhances detection of the higher frequency components of the multi-harmonic, long-duration advertisement calls produced repetitively by males during summer nights of peak vocal and spawning activity. The molecular basis of this seasonal auditory plasticity has not been fully resolved. Here, we utilize an unbiased transcriptomic RNA sequencing approach to identify differentially expressed transcripts within the saccule’s hair cell epithelium of reproductive summer and non-reproductive winter Fish. We assembled 74,027 unique transcripts from our saccular epithelial sequence reads. Of these, 6.4 % and 3.0 % were upregulated in the reproductive and non-reproductive saccular epithelium, respectively. Gene ontology (GO) term enrichment analyses of the differentially expressed transcripts showed that the reproductive saccular epithelium was transcriptionally, translationally, and metabolically more active than the non-reproductive epithelium. Furthermore, the expression of a specific suite of candidate genes, including ion channels and components of steroid-signaling pathways, was upregulated in the reproductive compared to the non-reproductive saccular epithelium. We found reported auditory functions for 14 candidate genes upregulated in the reproductive Midshipman saccular epithelium, 8 of which are enriched in mouse hair cells, validating their hair cell-specific functions across vertebrates. We identified a suite of differentially expressed genes belonging to neurotransmission and steroid-signaling pathways, consistent with previous work showing the importance of these characters in regulating hair cell auditory sensitivity in Midshipman Fish and, more broadly, vertebrates. The results were also consistent with auditory hair cells being generally more physiologically active when animals are in a reproductive state, a time of enhanced sensory-motor coupling between the auditory periphery and the upper harmonics of vocalizations. Together with several new candidate genes, our results identify discrete patterns of gene expression linked to frequency- and steroid-dependent plasticity of hair cell auditory sensitivity.
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Neuroendocrine control of seasonal plasticity in the auditory and vocal systems of Fish
Frontiers in neuroendocrinology, 2014Co-Authors: Paul M. Forlano, Joseph A Sisneros, Kevin N. Rohmann, Andrew H. BassAbstract:Seasonal changes in reproductive-related vocal behavior are widespread among Fishes. This review highlights recent studies of the vocal plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, a neuroethological model system used for the past two decades to explore neural and endocrine mechanisms of vocal-acoustic social behaviors shared with tetrapods. Integrative approaches combining behavior, neurophysiology, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, and gene expression methodologies have taken advantage of simple, stereotyped and easily quantifiable behaviors controlled by discrete neural networks in this model system to enable discoveries such as the first demonstration of adaptive seasonal plasticity in the auditory periphery of a vertebrate as well as rapid steroid and neuropeptide effects on vocal physiology and behavior. This simple model system has now revealed cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying seasonal and steroid-driven auditory and vocal plasticity in the vertebrate brain.
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Novel underwater soundscape: acoustic repertoire of plainfin Midshipman Fish
Journal of Experimental Biology, 2014Co-Authors: Eileen L. Mciver, Margaret A Marchaterre, Aaron N. Rice, Andrew H. BassAbstract:ToadFishes are among the best-known groups of sound-producing (vocal) Fishes and include species commonly known as toadFish and Midshipman. Although Midshipman have been the subject of extensive investigation of the neural mechanisms of vocalization, this is the first comprehensive, quantitative analysis of the spectrotemporal characters of their acoustic signals and one of the few for Fishes in general. Field recordings of territorial, nest-guarding male Midshipman during the breeding season identified a diverse vocal repertoire composed of three basic sound types that varied widely in duration, harmonic structure and degree of amplitude modulation (AM): ‘hum’, ‘grunt’ and ‘growl’. Hum duration varied nearly 1000-fold, lasting for minutes at a time, with stable harmonic stacks and little envelope modulation throughout the sound. By contrast, grunts were brief, ~30–140 ms, broadband signals produced both in isolation and repetitively as a train of up to 200 at intervals of ~0.5–1.0 s. Growls were also produced alone or repetitively, but at variable intervals of the order of seconds with durations between those of grunts and hums, ranging 60-fold from ~200 ms to 12 s. Growls exhibited prominent harmonics with sudden shifts in pulse repetition rate and highly variable AM patterns, unlike the nearly constant AM of grunt trains and flat envelope of hums. Behavioral and neurophysiological studies support the hypothesis that each sound type’s unique acoustic signature contributes to signal recognition mechanisms. Nocturnal production of these sounds against a background chorus dominated constantly for hours by a single sound type, the multiharmonic hum, reveals a novel underwater soundscape for Fish.
Paul M. Forlano - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Serotonin distribution in the brain of the plainfin Midshipman: Substrates for vocal-acoustic modulation and a reevaluation of the serotonergic system in teleost Fishes.
The Journal of comparative neurology, 2020Co-Authors: Miky Timothy, Paul M. ForlanoAbstract:Serotonin (5-HT) is a modulator of neural circuitry underlying motor patterning, homeostatic control, and social behavior. While previous studies have described 5-HT distribution in various teleosts, serotonergic raphe subgroups in Fish are not well defined and therefore remain problematic for cross-species comparisons. Here we used the plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, a well-studied model for investigating the neural and hormonal mechanisms of vertebrate vocal-acoustic communication, to redefine raphe subgroups based on both stringent neuroanatomical landmarks as well as quantitative cell measurements. In addition, we comprehensively characterized 5-HT-immunoreactive (-ir) innervation throughout the brain, including well-delineated vocal and auditory nuclei. We report neuroanatomical heterogeneity in populations of the serotonergic raphe nuclei of the brainstem reticular formation, with three discrete subregions in the superior raphe, an intermediate 5-HT-ir cell cluster, and an extensive inferior raphe population. 5-HT-ir neurons were also observed within the vocal motor nucleus (VMN), forming putative contacts on those cells. In addition, three major 5-HT-ir cell groups were identified in the hypothalamus and one group in the pretectum. Significant 5-HT-ir innervation was found in components of the vocal pattern generator and cranial motor nuclei. All vocal midbrain nuclei showed considerable 5-HT-ir innervation, as did thalamic and hindbrain auditory and lateral line areas and vocal-acoustic integration sites in the preoptic area and ventral telencephalon. This comprehensive atlas offers new insights into the organization of 5-HT nuclei in teleosts and provides neuroanatomical evidence for serotonin as a modulator of vocal-acoustic circuitry and behavior in Midshipman Fish, consistent with findings in vocal tetrapods.
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Dopaminergic neurons are preferentially responsive to advertisement calls and co-active with social behavior network nuclei in sneaker male Midshipman Fish
Brain research, 2018Co-Authors: Zachary N. Ghahramani, Joseph A Sisneros, Miky Timothy, Joshua Varughese, Paul M. ForlanoAbstract:Abstract Vocal species use acoustic signals to facilitate diverse behaviors such as mate attraction and territorial defense. However, little is known regarding the neural substrates that interpret such divergent conspecific signals. Using the plainfin Midshipman Fish model, we tested whether specific catecholaminergic (i.e., dopaminergic and noradrenergic) nuclei and nodes of the social behavior network (SBN) are differentially responsive following exposure to playbacks of divergent social signals in sneaker males. We chose sneaker (type II) males since they attempt to steal fertilizations from territorial type I males who use an advertisement call (hum) to attract females yet are also subjected to vocal agonistic behavior (grunts) by type I males. We demonstrate that induction of cFos (an immediate early gene product and proxy for neural activation) in two forebrain dopaminergic nuclei is greater in sneaker males exposed to hums but not grunts compared to ambient noise, suggesting hums preferentially activate these nuclei, further asserting dopamine as an important regulator of social-acoustic behaviors. Moreover, acoustic exposure to social signals with divergent salience engendered contrasting shifts in functional connectivity between dopaminergic nuclei and nodes of the SBN, supporting the idea that interactions between these two circuits may underlie adaptive decision-making related to intraspecific male competition.
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brain activation patterns in response to conspecific and heterospecific social acoustic signals in female plainfin Midshipman Fish porichthys notatus
Brain Behavior and Evolution, 2018Co-Authors: Robert A. Mohr, Paul M. Forlano, Ashwin A. Bhandiwad, Yiran Chang, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:While the peripheral auditory system of Fish has been well studied, less is known about how the Fish's brain and central auditory system process complex social acoustic signals. The plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, has become a good species for investigating the neural basis of acoustic communication because the production and reception of acoustic signals is paramount for this species' reproductive success. Nesting males produce long-duration advertisement calls that females detect and localize among the noise in the intertidal zone to successfully find mates and spawn. How female Midshipman are able to discriminate male advertisement calls from environmental noise and other acoustic stimuli is unknown. Using the immediate early gene product cFos as a marker for neural activity, we quantified neural activation of the ascending auditory pathway in female Midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls, heterospecific white seabass calls, or ambient environment noise. We hypothesized that auditory hindbrain nuclei would be activated by general acoustic stimuli (ambient noise and other biotic acoustic stimuli) whereas auditory neurons in the midbrain and forebrain would be selectively activated by conspecific advertisement calls. We show that neural activation in two regions of the auditory hindbrain, i.e., the rostral intermediate division of the descending octaval nucleus and the ventral division of the secondary octaval nucleus, did not differ via cFos immunoreactive (cFos-ir) activity when exposed to different acoustic stimuli. In contrast, female Midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls showed greater cFos-ir in the nucleus centralis of the midbrain torus semicircularis compared to Fish exposed only to ambient noise. No difference in cFos-ir was observed in the torus semicircularis of animals exposed to conspecific versus heterospecific calls. However, cFos-ir was greater in two forebrain structures that receive auditory input, i.e., the central posterior nucleus of the thalamus and the anterior tuberal hypothalamus, when exposed to conspecific calls versus either ambient noise or heterospecific calls. Our results suggest that higher-order neurons in the female Midshipman midbrain torus semicircularis, thalamic central posterior nucleus, and hypothalamic anterior tuberal nucleus may be necessary for the discrimination of complex social acoustic signals. Furthermore, neurons in the central posterior and anterior tuberal nuclei are differentially activated by exposure to conspecific versus other acoustic stimuli.
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Attention and Motivated Response to Simulated Male Advertisement Call Activates Forebrain Dopaminergic and Social Decision-Making Network Nuclei in Female Midshipman Fish.
Integrative and comparative biology, 2017Co-Authors: Paul M. Forlano, Miky Timothy, Zachary N. Ghahramani, Roshney R. Licorish, Melissa Ferrari, William C. Palmer, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:Little is known regarding the coordination of audition with decision-making and subsequent motor responses that initiate social behavior including mate localization during courtship. Using the Midshipman Fish model, we tested the hypothesis that the time spent by females attending and responding to the advertisement call is correlated with the activation of a specific subset of catecholaminergic (CA) and social decision-making network (SDM) nuclei underlying auditory- driven sexual motivation. In addition, we quantified the relationship of neural activation between CA and SDM nuclei in all responders with the goal of providing a map of functional connectivity of the circuitry underlying a motivated state responsive to acoustic cues during mate localization. In order to make a baseline qualitative comparison of this functional brain map to unmotivated females, we made a similar correlative comparison of brain activation in females who were unresponsive to the advertisement call playback. Our results support an important role for dopaminergic neurons in the periventricular posterior tuberculum and ventral thalamus, putative A11 and A13 tetrapod homologues, respectively, as well as the posterior parvocellular preoptic area and dorsomedial telencephalon, (laterobasal amygdala homologue) in auditory attention and appetitive sexual behavior in Fishes. These findings may also offer insights into the function of these highly conserved nuclei in the context of auditory-driven reproductive social behavior across vertebrates.
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Intra‐ and Intersexual swim bladder dimorphisms in the plainfin Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus): Implications of swim bladder proximity to the inner ear for sound pressure detection
Journal of morphology, 2017Co-Authors: Robert A. Mohr, Richard R Fay, Elizabeth A. Whitchurch, Paul M. Forlano, Ryan D. Anderson, Darlene R. Ketten, Timothy C. Cox, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:The plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, is a nocturnal marine teleost that uses social acoustic signals for communication during the breeding season. Nesting type I males produce multiharmonic advertisement calls by contracting their swim bladder sonic muscles to attract females for courtship and spawning while subsequently attracting cuckholding type II males. Here, we report intra- and intersexual dimorphisms of the swim bladder in a vocal teleost Fish and detail the swim bladder dimorphisms in the three sexual phenotypes (females, type I and II males) of plainfin Midshipman Fish. Micro-computerized tomography revealed that females and type II males have prominent, horn-like rostral swim bladder extensions that project toward the inner ear end organs (saccule, lagena, and utricle). The rostral swim bladder extensions were longer, and the distance between these swim bladder extensions and each inner-ear end organ type was significantly shorter in both females and type II males compared to that in type I males. Our results revealed that the normalized swim bladder length of females and type II males was longer than that in type I males while there was no difference in normalized swim bladder width among the three sexual phenotypes. We predict that these intrasexual and intersexual differences in swim bladder morphology among Midshipman sexual phenotypes will afford greater sound pressure sensitivity and higher frequency detection in females and type II males and facilitate the detection and localization of conspecifics in shallow water environments, like those in which Midshipman breed and nest.
Sigal Balshine - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Parental Males of the Plainfin Midshipman Are Physiologically Resilient to the Challenges of the Intertidal Zone.
Physiological and biochemical zoology : PBZ, 2020Co-Authors: Noah Houpt, Aneesh P. H. Bose, Brittney G. Borowiec, Nicholas A. W. Brown, Graham R. Scott, Sigal BalshineAbstract:AbstractThe decision of where to rear young is influenced by both the needs of offspring and the costs parents incur in certain rearing environments. Plainfin Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus) provide extended paternal care in rocky intertidal zones, where they experience regular bouts of aquatic hypoxia and air exposure during low-tide events. We investigated the physiological responses of plainfin Midshipman males to three conditions for 6 h that simulate what these Fish naturally experience during tidal cycles while nesting: normoxia, progressive hypoxia, or air exposure. Hypoxia- and air-exposed Fish exhibited shifts in energy metabolites, driven largely by elevated lactate and glucose content and reduced glycogen content in several tissues (muscle, heart, liver, and brain), but the magnitude of these changes was relatively modest. Hematocrit increased most in air-exposed Fish relative to normoxia-exposed Fish, contributing to an increase in whole-blood hemoglobin concentration. Air exposure reduce...
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Sperm maturation and male tactic-specific differences in ejaculates in the plainfin Midshipman Fish Porichthys notatus.
Journal of fish biology, 2019Co-Authors: Jessica S. Miller, Aneesh P. H. Bose, John L. Fitzpatrick, Sigal BalshineAbstract:Using the plainfin Midshipman Fish Porichthys notatus, a species with alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs), we investigated how sperm maturation shapes sperm competitive abilities. We compared sperm performance and morphology before and after final sperm maturation by sampling sperm from the testes and stripped ejaculates of guarders and sneakers. In accordance with sperm competition risk theory, ejaculates from sneaker males had three times as much sperm as ejaculates from guarder males and sneaker males produced faster swimming sperm than guarder males, but this was only the case after final sperm maturation had occurred. Additionally, fully mature sperm found in ejaculates had larger heads and midpieces than sperm found in the testes. These results emphasize the important role played by non-sperm components of an ejaculate in mediating sperm performance and potentially also morphology.
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phenotypic traits and resource quality as factors affecting male reproductive success in a toadFish
Behavioral Ecology, 2018Co-Authors: Aneesh P. H. Bose, Andrew H. Bass, Joseph A Sisneros, Karen M. Cogliati, Nick Luymes, Margaret A Marchaterre, Benjamin M Bolker, Sigal BalshineAbstract:In nature, it can be challenging to figure out whether success at attracting mates and reproducing is due to something intrinsic about an individual or something about the quality of the resources they possess. In a series of lab and field studies using the plainfin Midshipman Fish, we show that both factors are complex and that resource quality can impose a limit on reproductive success regardless of the quality of the resource owner.
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otolith morphology varies between populations sexes and male alternative reproductive tactics in a vocal toadFish porichthys notatus
Journal of Fish Biology, 2017Co-Authors: Aneesh P. H. Bose, Joseph B Adragna, Sigal BalshineAbstract:In this study, the morphology of sagittal otoliths of the plainfin Midshipman Fish Porichthys notatus was compared between populations, sexes and male alternative reproductive phenotypes (known as 'type I males or guarders' and 'type II males or sneakers'). Sagitta size increased with P. notatus size and changes in shape were also detected with increasing body size. Porichthys notatus sagittae begin as simple rounded structures, but then elongate as they grow and take on a more triangular and complex shape with several prominent notches and indentations along the dorsal and caudal edges. Moreover, the sagittae of the two geographically and genetically distinct populations of P. notatus (northern and southern) differed in shape. Porichthys notatus from the north possessed taller sagittae with deeper caudal indentations compared to P. notatus from the south. Sagitta shape also differed between females and males of the conventional guarder tactic. Furthermore, guarder males had smaller sagittae for their body size than did sneaker males or females. These differences in sagittal otolith morphology are discussed in relation to ecological and life history differences between the sexes and male tactics of this species. This is the first study to investigate teleost otolith morphology from the perspective of alternative reproductive tactics.
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impacts of direct and indirect paternity cues on paternal care in a singing toadFish
Behavioral Ecology, 2016Co-Authors: Aneesh P. H. Bose, Henry H Kou, Sigal BalshineAbstract:Effort spent on raising unrelated offspring can be costly and wasteful, and parents are expected to reduce their level of investment when they have low or uncertain relatedness to the young under their care. Although the relationship between parental certainty and parental investment is theoretically well established, empirical support has been mixed. Here, we report on a series of lab and field experiments that test whether paternal investment is reduced as paternity decreases in the plainfin Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus), a species of toadFish with male-only care. We explored what cues plainfin Midshipman males use to assess their paternity. We show that a nest takeover, in which a male displaces another male from a nest, can be a reliable indirect cue of paternity information and leads to a drop in offspring survival. We also show that, when presented in isolation, direct cues of reduced offspring relatedness do not result in a decline in offspring survival in Midshipman. Our findings help clarify what systems, species, and theoretical assumptions best reveal the link between parental investment and parentage.
Robert A. Mohr - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Sexually dimorphic swim bladder extensions enhance the auditory sensitivity of female plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus.
The Journal of Experimental Biology, 2019Co-Authors: Orphal Colleye, Robert A. Mohr, Brooke J. Vetter, Lane Seeley, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:ABSTRACT The plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, is a seasonally breeding, nocturnal marine teleost Fish that produces acoustic signals for intraspecific social communication. Females rely on audition to detect and locate ‘singing’ males that produce multiharmonic advertisement calls in the shallow-water, intertidal breeding environments. Previous work showed that females possess sexually dimorphic, horn-like rostral swim bladder extensions that extend toward the primary auditory end organs, the saccule and lagena. Here, we tested the hypothesis that the rostral swim bladder extensions in females increase auditory sensitivity to sound pressure and higher frequencies, which potentially could enhance mate detection and localization in shallow-water habitats. We recorded the auditory evoked potentials that originated from hair cell receptors in the saccule of control females with intact swim bladders and compared them with those from treated females (swim bladders removed) and type I males (intact swim bladders lacking rostral extensions). Saccular potentials were recorded from hair cell populations in vivo while behaviorally relevant pure-tone stimuli (75–1005 Hz) were presented by an underwater speaker. The results indicate that control females were approximately 5–11 dB re. 1 µPa more sensitive to sound pressure than treated females and type I males at the frequencies tested. A higher percentage of the evoked saccular potentials were recorded from control females at frequencies >305 Hz than from treated females and type I males. This enhanced sensitivity in females to sound pressure and higher frequencies may facilitate the acquisition of auditory information needed for conspecific localization and mate choice decisions during the breeding season.
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brain activation patterns in response to conspecific and heterospecific social acoustic signals in female plainfin Midshipman Fish porichthys notatus
Brain Behavior and Evolution, 2018Co-Authors: Robert A. Mohr, Paul M. Forlano, Ashwin A. Bhandiwad, Yiran Chang, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:While the peripheral auditory system of Fish has been well studied, less is known about how the Fish's brain and central auditory system process complex social acoustic signals. The plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, has become a good species for investigating the neural basis of acoustic communication because the production and reception of acoustic signals is paramount for this species' reproductive success. Nesting males produce long-duration advertisement calls that females detect and localize among the noise in the intertidal zone to successfully find mates and spawn. How female Midshipman are able to discriminate male advertisement calls from environmental noise and other acoustic stimuli is unknown. Using the immediate early gene product cFos as a marker for neural activity, we quantified neural activation of the ascending auditory pathway in female Midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls, heterospecific white seabass calls, or ambient environment noise. We hypothesized that auditory hindbrain nuclei would be activated by general acoustic stimuli (ambient noise and other biotic acoustic stimuli) whereas auditory neurons in the midbrain and forebrain would be selectively activated by conspecific advertisement calls. We show that neural activation in two regions of the auditory hindbrain, i.e., the rostral intermediate division of the descending octaval nucleus and the ventral division of the secondary octaval nucleus, did not differ via cFos immunoreactive (cFos-ir) activity when exposed to different acoustic stimuli. In contrast, female Midshipman exposed to conspecific advertisement calls showed greater cFos-ir in the nucleus centralis of the midbrain torus semicircularis compared to Fish exposed only to ambient noise. No difference in cFos-ir was observed in the torus semicircularis of animals exposed to conspecific versus heterospecific calls. However, cFos-ir was greater in two forebrain structures that receive auditory input, i.e., the central posterior nucleus of the thalamus and the anterior tuberal hypothalamus, when exposed to conspecific calls versus either ambient noise or heterospecific calls. Our results suggest that higher-order neurons in the female Midshipman midbrain torus semicircularis, thalamic central posterior nucleus, and hypothalamic anterior tuberal nucleus may be necessary for the discrimination of complex social acoustic signals. Furthermore, neurons in the central posterior and anterior tuberal nuclei are differentially activated by exposure to conspecific versus other acoustic stimuli.
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Intra‐ and Intersexual swim bladder dimorphisms in the plainfin Midshipman Fish (Porichthys notatus): Implications of swim bladder proximity to the inner ear for sound pressure detection
Journal of morphology, 2017Co-Authors: Robert A. Mohr, Richard R Fay, Elizabeth A. Whitchurch, Paul M. Forlano, Ryan D. Anderson, Darlene R. Ketten, Timothy C. Cox, Joseph A SisnerosAbstract:The plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, is a nocturnal marine teleost that uses social acoustic signals for communication during the breeding season. Nesting type I males produce multiharmonic advertisement calls by contracting their swim bladder sonic muscles to attract females for courtship and spawning while subsequently attracting cuckholding type II males. Here, we report intra- and intersexual dimorphisms of the swim bladder in a vocal teleost Fish and detail the swim bladder dimorphisms in the three sexual phenotypes (females, type I and II males) of plainfin Midshipman Fish. Micro-computerized tomography revealed that females and type II males have prominent, horn-like rostral swim bladder extensions that project toward the inner ear end organs (saccule, lagena, and utricle). The rostral swim bladder extensions were longer, and the distance between these swim bladder extensions and each inner-ear end organ type was significantly shorter in both females and type II males compared to that in type I males. Our results revealed that the normalized swim bladder length of females and type II males was longer than that in type I males while there was no difference in normalized swim bladder width among the three sexual phenotypes. We predict that these intrasexual and intersexual differences in swim bladder morphology among Midshipman sexual phenotypes will afford greater sound pressure sensitivity and higher frequency detection in females and type II males and facilitate the detection and localization of conspecifics in shallow water environments, like those in which Midshipman breed and nest.
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Exposure to advertisement calls of reproductive competitors activates vocal-acoustic and catecholaminergic neurons in the plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus.
PloS one, 2013Co-Authors: Christopher L. Petersen, Joseph A Sisneros, Miky Timothy, Robert A. Mohr, Ashwin A. Bhandiwad, D. Spencer Kim, Paul M. ForlanoAbstract:While the neural circuitry and physiology of the auditory system is well studied among vertebrates, far less is known about how the auditory system interacts with other neural substrates to mediate behavioral responses to social acoustic signals. One species that has been the subject of intensive neuroethological investigation with regard to the production and perception of social acoustic signals is the plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, in part because acoustic communication is essential to their reproductive behavior. Nesting male Midshipman vocally court females by producing a long duration advertisement call. Females localize males by their advertisement call, spawn and deposit all their eggs in their mate’s nest. As multiple courting males establish nests in close proximity to one another, the perception of another male’s call may modulate individual calling behavior in competition for females. We tested the hypothesis that nesting males exposed to advertisement calls of other males would show elevated neural activity in auditory and vocal-acoustic brain centers as well as differential activation of catecholaminergic neurons compared to males exposed only to ambient noise. Experimental brains were then double labeled by immunofluorescence (-ir) for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), an enzyme necessary for catecholamine synthesis, and cFos, an immediate-early gene product used as a marker for neural activation. Males exposed to other advertisement calls showed a significantly greater percentage of TH-ir cells colocalized with cFos-ir in the noradrenergic locus coeruleus and the dopaminergic periventricular posterior tuberculum, as well as increased numbers of cFos-ir neurons in several levels of the auditory and vocal-acoustic pathway. Increased activation of catecholaminergic neurons may serve to coordinate appropriate behavioral responses to male competitors. Additionally, these results implicate a role for specific catecholaminergic neuronal groups in auditory-driven social behavior in Fishes, consistent with a conserved function in social acoustic behavior across vertebrates.
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Exposure to advertisement calls of reproductive competitors activates vocal-acoustic and catecholaminergic neurons in the plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus
2013Co-Authors: Fish Porichthys Notatus, Joseph A Sisneros, Spencer D. Kim, Miky Timothy, Robert A. Mohr, Christopher L. Petersen, Paul M. ForlanoAbstract:While the neural circuitry and physiology of the auditory system is well studied among vertebrates, far less is known about how the auditory system interacts with other neural substrates to mediate behavioral responses to social acoustic signals. One species that has been the subject of intensive neuroethological investigation with regard to the production and perception of social acoustic signals is the plainfin Midshipman Fish, Porichthys notatus, in part because acoustic communication is essential to their reproductive behavior. Nesting male Midshipman vocally court females by producing a long duration advertisement call. Females localize males by their advertisement call, spawn and deposit all their eggs in their mate’s nest. As multiple courting males establish nests in close proximity to one another, the perception of another male’s call may modulate individual calling behavior in competition for females. We tested the hypothesis that nesting males exposed to advertisement calls of other males would show elevated neural activity in auditory and vocal-acoustic brain centers as well as differential activation of catecholaminergic neurons compared to males exposed only to ambient noise. Experimental brains were then double labeled by immunofluorescence (-ir) for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), an enzyme necessary for catecholamine synthesis, and cFos, an immediate-early gene product used as a marker for neural activation. Males exposed to other advertisement calls showed a significantly greater percentage of TH-ir cells colocalized with cFos-i