| Title: | Olfactory sensitivity of the marine flatfish Solea senegalensis to conspecific body fluids |
| Author(s): | Fatsini E; Carazo I; Chauvigne F; Manchado M; Cerda J; Hubbard PC; Duncan NJ; |
| Address: | "IRTA Sant Carles de la Rapita Crta, De Poble Nou km. 5.5 (43540) Sant Carles de la Rapita, Tarragona, Spain. IRTA-Institut de Ciencies del Mar, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Barcelona 08003, Spain. IFAPA Centro El Toruno, Junta de Andalucia, Camino Tiro Pichon s/n, 11500 El Puerto Santa Maria, Cadiz, Spain. Centre of Marine Sciences (CCMAR), Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, Faro 8005-139, Portugal phubbard@ualg.pt" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1477-9145 (Electronic) 0022-0949 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Chemical communication is better understood in freshwater fish than marine fish. The Senegalese sole (Solea senegalensis) is a marine flatfish wherein one of the problems in aquaculture is the poor reproductive performance of hatchery-bred males. Is chemical communication involved in the reproduction of this species? Urine, intestinal fluid and mucus samples were taken from adult fish (wild-caught and hatchery-bred) over the spawning season (March-May), and assessed for olfactory potency using the electro-olfactogram (EOG). The effect of stimulation of the olfactory system with adult female urine on circulating luteinizing hormone (LH) levels was also tested in males. Intestinal fluid and urine were potent olfactory stimuli for both juvenile and adult conspecifics, evoking large-amplitude, concentration-dependent EOG responses, with thresholds of detection at approximately 1:10(6) However, the amplitude of the response to urine depended on the sex and state of maturity of both the donor and the receiver. Most olfactory activity could be extracted by C18 solid-phase cartridges. Urine from mature females evoked a slight, but significant, increase in circulating LH levels in mature males 30 min after exposure. Furthermore, the olfactory potency of urine differed between wild-caught and hatchery-bred fish; however, contrary to expectations, urine from wild-caught females was less potent than that from hatchery-bred females. Taken together, these results strongly suggest that faeces- and urine-released odorants are involved in reproduction in the Senegalese sole, and establish a basis for further investigation into pheromonal communication in marine teleosts" |
| Keywords: | *Animal Communication Animals Aquaculture Body Fluids/chemistry Electrophysiology Female Flatfishes/growth & development/*physiology Luteinizing Hormone/blood Male Olfactory Nerve/physiology Pheromones Reproduction/physiology Sex Factors *Smell Faeces Mar; |
| Notes: | "MedlineFatsini, Elvira Carazo, Ignacio Chauvigne, Francois Manchado, Manuel Cerda, Joan Hubbard, Peter C Duncan, Neil J eng Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't England 2017/03/30 J Exp Biol. 2017 Jun 1; 220(Pt 11):2057-2065. doi: 10.1242/jeb.150318. Epub 2017 Mar 27" |
