Predation drives recurrent convergence of an interspecies mutualism

Feeney, William E.; Brooker, Rohan M.; Johnston, Lane N.; Gilbert, James D.J.; Besson, Marc; Lecchini, David; Dixson, Danielle L.; Cowman, Peter F.; Manica, Andrea

Abstract

Mutualisms are fundamental ecological interactions that underpin much of the world’s biodiversity. Recent studies have demonstrated how external pressures, such as predation, can regulate the dynamics of interspecific interactions and cause the breakdown or emergence of mutualisms under certain circumstances. However, whether these kinds of pressures can also explain global patterns of mutualism evolution remains unclear. Here, we show that fish-anemone mutualisms have evolved independently on at least 48 occasions across 17 families over the past 60 million years and that fish adult body size best predicts the ontogenetic stage of anemone-association: larger-bodied fishes associate with anemones as juveniles, while their smaller-bodied counterparts associate with anemones throughout their lives. We use field and laboratory studies to show that predators of juvenile fishes preferentially target smaller prey, that smaller individuals of a facultative anemone partner associate with anemones more than their larger counterparts, and that associations with anemones confer a protective benefit against predators. Our results indicate that predation is the most likely pressure driving the recurrent convergent evolution of fish-anemone mutualisms and suggest that similar ecological processes may have selected for convergent interspecies interactions in other animal clades.

Citation

Feeney, W. E., Brooker, R. M., Johnston, L. N., Gilbert, J. D., Besson, M., Lecchini, D., Dixson, D. L., Cowman, P. F., & Manica, A. (2019). Predation drives recurrent convergence of an interspecies mutualism. Ecology letters, 22(2), 256-264. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13184

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 28, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Nov 27, 2018
• Publication Date: 2019-02
• Deposit Date: Oct 22, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 28, 2019
• Print ISSN: 1461-023X
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 22
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 256-264
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13184
• Keywords: Convergent evolution; Coral reefs; Mutualism; Predator-prey interactions
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/1108056
• Publisher URL: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ele.13184
• Related Public URLs: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/287775
• Contract Date: Oct 22, 2018