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Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus: an exception to the rule of homing in anadromous fishes.

ABSTRACT: Anadromous fishes are believed to make regular circuits of migration in the sea before homing to their natal rivers. Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus is an anadromous fish that is an exception to this life-history pattern. It also differs from other anadromous fishes in that its adult phase is parasitic, a feeding strategy that should make homing problematic for lamprey cohorts that become widely dispersed through transport by the diverse hosts they parasitize. We sequenced a portion of the mitochondrial DNA control region from sea lampreys collected from 11 North American east coast rivers to test for genetic evidence of homing. There were no significant differences (chi2=235.1, p=0.401) in haplotype frequencies among them, with almost 99 per cent of haplotypic diversity occurring within populations. These findings, together with concordant genetic results from other geographical regions and ancillary information on pheromonal communication, suggest that sea lamprey does not home but rather exhibits regional panmixia while using a novel 'suitable river' strategy to complete its life cycle.

SUBMITTER: Waldman J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2614145 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus: an exception to the rule of homing in anadromous fishes.

Waldman John J Grunwald Cheryl C Wirgin Isaac I

Biology letters 20081201 6

Anadromous fishes are believed to make regular circuits of migration in the sea before homing to their natal rivers. Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus is an anadromous fish that is an exception to this life-history pattern. It also differs from other anadromous fishes in that its adult phase is parasitic, a feeding strategy that should make homing problematic for lamprey cohorts that become widely dispersed through transport by the diverse hosts they parasitize. We sequenced a portion of the mitoch ...[more]

PMID: 18713713

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) is a diadromous fish compromised by various stressors, which can lead to population decline and the urgency of stronger conservation regulation. In the absence of documentation of direct knowledge of local populations, a broader zoological and ecological understanding of sea lamprey fishing has become vital for the preservation of traditional practices and conservation of this migratory fish. To this purpose, we collected data from the P. marinus about the artisanal fisheries profile, folk taxonomy, habitat, reproduction, migration, and displacement using a low-cost methodology, through ethnobiology tools, in the four riverine fishing villages in Portugal. METHODS:A total of 40 semi-structured interviews were carried out during the winter of 2019 in crucial fishing villages in the Minho river. Fishers were selected by random sampling and the snowball technique when appropriate. Interviews applied contained four parts (fisher's profile, projective test, knowledge about fishing, and ethnozoological knowledge about the sea lamprey). Informal knowledge was analyzed following an emic-etic approach and the set-theoretical Union of all individual competences. The Code of Ethics of the International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) was the main parameter for the conduction of this ethnozoological research and related activities in the Cooperminho project. RESULTS:This first ethnobiological study of the sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in Portugal showed a sample of predominantly male fishers, averaging 57.13 years old, and average fishing experience of 37.18 years. The average income of fishers is about 688.28 Euros, and the level of education was predominantly basic. Data from artisanal fisheries showed the time and frequency of fishing, the characterization of fishing boats, and general information on catching lamprey in the Minho river. Three new folk names were attributed to P. marinus. Fishers mentioned sites with rock fragments and sandy bottoms and depth ranges ranging from 0 to 8 m as likely sea lamprey habitats. The villages of Monção and Melgaço are the last areas of the river where you could spot sea lamprey, as well as the last probable spawning grounds for this fish in the Minho river. The hydroelectric dams and predatory fisheries were considered the main obstacles to the migration of sea lamprey. Finally, local fishers also shared the lamprey migration season to feed and spawn. CONCLUSIONS:Fishers shared a vast informal knowledge of sea lamprey zoology and ecology typical of anadromous species of the Petromyzontidae family, in the central traditional Portuguese communities on the Minho river. This fisher's knowledge becomes essential to preserve cultural practices of the sea lamprey, which is currently highly susceptible to anthropogenic pressures. Given the real warning of population extinction in the Portuguese rivers (such as the Minho river) and a similar trend in Spanish territory, ethnozoological studies of sea lamprey in Spanish fishing communities may support our findings. Also, this study may assist in the adaptive participatory management of these anadromous fish, as well as in documentation of local ecological knowledge (LEK) and centuries-old fishing practices that are also vulnerable in modern times on the international frontier Minho river.

Project description:The sea lamprey, Petromyzon marinus, is an anadromous, semelparous species that is vulnerable to endangered in parts of its native range due in part to loss of spawning habitat because of man-made barriers. The ability of lampreys to return to the ocean or estuary and search out alternative spawning river systems would be limited by their osmoregulatory ability in seawater. A reduction in tolerance to salinity has been documented in migrants, although the underlying mechanisms have not been characterized. We examined the capacity for marine osmoregulation in upstream spawning migrants by characterizing the physiological effects of salinity challenge from a molecular perspective. Estuarine-captured migrants held in freshwater (FW) for ∼1 week (short-term acclimation) or 2 months (long-term acclimation) underwent an incremental salinity challenge until loss of equilibrium occurred and upper thresholds of 25 and 17.5, respectively, occurred. Regardless of salinity tolerance, all lamprey downregulated FW ion-uptake mechanisms [gill transcripts of Na(+):Cl(-) cotransporter (NCC/slc12a3) and epithelial Na(+) channel (ENaC/scnn1) and kidney Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase (NKA) protein and activity but not transcript]. At their respective salinity limits, lamprey displayed a clear osmoregulatory failure and were unable to regulate [Na(+)] and [Cl(-)] in plasma and intestinal fluid within physiological limits, becoming osmocompromised. A >90% drop in haematocrit indicated haemolysis, and higher plasma concentrations of the cytosolic enzymes alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase and lactate dehydrogenase indicated damage to other tissues, including liver. However, >80% of short-term FW-acclimated fish were able to osmoregulate efficiently, with less haemolysis and tissue damage. This osmoregulatory ability was correlated with significant upregulation of the secretory form of Na(+):K(+):2Cl(-) cotransporter (NKCC1/slc12a2) transcript levels and the re-emergence of seawater-type ionocytes detected through immunohistochemical NKA immunoreactivity in the gill, the central ionoregulatory organ. This work sheds light on the molecular and physiological limits to the potential return to seawater for lampreys searching for alternative FW systems in which to spawn.

Dataset Information

Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus: an exception to the rule of homing in anadromous fishes.

Publications

Sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus: an exception to the rule of homing in anadromous fishes.

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