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. 2025 Jan 16;15(1):e70813.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.70813. eCollection 2025 Jan.

Twoline Skiffia's Latency to Exit a Refuge and to Locate Food When Socialising With Invaders and Raising Temperatures

Abigail Santiago-Arellano  1   2 , Javier Alcocer  3 , Erick de la Barrera  4 , Morelia Camacho-Cervantes  1
Affiliations

Twoline Skiffia's Latency to Exit a Refuge and to Locate Food When Socialising With Invaders and Raising Temperatures

Abigail Santiago-Arellano et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract
in English, Spanish

Aquatic ecosystems are reservoirs of biodiversity and are highly threatened. Among the main threats to biodiversity are invasive species and global warming, the later has allowed the establishment of invasive species from originally warmer climates outside their native range by reducing the barriers to their establishment and distribution. Behaviour is the immediate response that species modify to counteract changes in their environment. Latency to respond to certain stimuli is an indicator of different behavioural tendencies associated with boldness, for example, quickly leaving a shelter could lead to benefits like finding a mate or locating food faster. We investigated the latency to exit a refuge and to locate food of the native twoline skiffia (Skiffia bilineata) from central Mexico at three temperatures (18°C, 23°C and 28°C) and in the presence/absence of invasive guppies (Poecilia reticulata). Our results are the first to show native fish could benefit from associating with invaders when emerging from a refuge and locating food under higher temperatures, but they would find themselves at the extreme of their thermal tolerance. Evidence of positive outcomes from biological invasions is increasing; however, further research is needed to understand if potential benefits for natives are temporary, which may make biological invasions less detrimental during the initial stages.

Los ecosistemas acuáticos son reservorios de biodiversidad y están altamente amenazados. Una de las principales amenazas para la biodiversidad son las especies invasoras y el calentamiento global que ha permitido el establecimiento de especies invasoras fuera de su rango de distribución nativa al reducir las barreras para su establecimiento y distribución. El comportamiento es la respuesta inmediata que las especies modifican para contrarrestar los cambios en su entorno. La latencia para responder a ciertos estímulos es un indicador de diferentes tendencias de comportamiento asociadas con la audacia; por ejemplo, abandonar rápidamente de un refugio podría resultar en beneficios como encontrar pareja o localizar alimento más rápidamente. Investigamos la latencia para salir de un refugio y localizar alimento del Tiro de dos rayas (Skiffia bilineata) nativo del centro de México a tres temperaturas (18°C, 23°C y 28°C) y en presencia o ausencia de guppies invasores (Poecilia reticulata). Nuestros resultados representan el primer hallazgo de que los peces nativos podrían beneficiarse de asociarse con invasores al salir de un refugio y localizar alimento bajo temperaturas más altas, pero se encontrarían en el extremo de su tolerancia térmica. La evidencia de resultados positivos de invasiones biológicas está aumentando, sin embargo, se necesita más investigación para entender si los beneficios potenciales para los nativos son temporales, lo que podría hacer que las invasiones biológicas sean menos perjudiciales durante las primeras etapas.

Keywords: behaviour; global warming; goodeids; invasive species; poeciliids; risk taking.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
(a) We observed 54 independents focal twoline skiffias under three different social treatments, 18 fish under each treatment. Each focal fish was tested in the temperature scenarios (i.e., repeated measures) as shown in (b) Observation tank diagram. The vertical solid line shows the end of the refuge, and the vertical dotted line shows the distance the fish must cross entirely to be considered out of the refuge area.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Probability of fish (a) exiting the refuge and (b) locating food. In both panels, solid lines represent 18°C, dashed lines represent 23°C and dots represent 28°C.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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