Exploring eusociality in a marine vertebrate- relatedness, dispersal and population connectivity in Risor ruber

探索海洋脊椎动物的真社会性——Risor ruber的相关性、扩散和种群连通性

• 批准号: NE/X012514/1
• 负责人: Theresa Rueger
• 金额: $ 10.23万
• 依托单位: Newcastle University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=NE%2FX012514%2F1
• 关键词: Exploring; eusociality; marine; vertebrate; relatedness

The apex of animal social organization is eusociality, a social system where only one cast creates offspring, defended and cared for by obligate sterile workers and warriors. Most eusocial systems occur in terrestrial invertebrates, such as bees, ants and wasps. The only known eusocial vertebrates are naked mole rats, and the only known eusocial marine animals are snapping shrimp in the genus Synalpheus. To date, no eusocial marine vertebrate has been recorded. Here, we propose to examine whether a marine vertebrate, the Tusked goby (Risor ruber), has evolved a eusocial system. R. ruber is an ideal candidate for eusociality because (1) small gobies have the potential for kin selection and (2) R. ruber is ecologically similar to Synalpheus shrimp, occupying similar sponges and exhibiting a cryptic lifestyle with no obvious dispersal. We will explore eusociality in R. ruber by studying relatedness, dispersal and behaviour in groups around Carrie Bow Cay, Belize, as well as along the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef. Our research will be among the first to focus on a cryptobenthic reef fish in the Caribbean, a group that plays an important, yet often overlooked, role in coral reef ecosystems. Thus, regardless of R. ruber's eusociality, our study will provide critical baseline data for coral reef science. If we discover eusociality in R. ruber, this will lead to new research avenues into the dispersal of marine vertebrates, the role of the biphasic life cycle in marine environments and the evolution of social and mating systems in fishes and other vertebrates.

动物社会组织的顶点是真社会性（eusociality），这是一种社会系统，在这种系统中，只有一个演员才能创造后代，由专门的不育工人和战士保护和照顾。大多数真社会系统发生在陆地无脊椎动物中，如蜜蜂、蚂蚁和黄蜂。唯一已知的真社会性脊椎动物是裸鼹鼠，唯一已知的真社会性海洋动物是Synalpheus属的捕捉虾。到目前为止，还没有真社会性海洋脊椎动物的记录。在这里，我们建议检查是否海洋脊椎动物，有牙虾虎鱼（里索ruber），已经演变成一个真社会系统。R. ruber是一个理想的候选人，因为（1）小虾虎鱼有潜在的亲属选择和（2）R。在生态学上，ruber与Synalpheus虾相似，占据类似的海绵，并表现出一种神秘的生活方式，没有明显的扩散。我们将探索R中的eusociality。通过研究伯利兹的Carrie Bow Cay周围以及沿着中美洲大堡礁的群体的亲缘关系、扩散和行为，我们的研究将是第一批专注于加勒比海隐底栖珊瑚礁鱼的研究之一，这是一个在珊瑚礁生态系统中发挥重要但经常被忽视的作用的群体。因此，不管R。我们的研究将为珊瑚礁科学提供关键的基线数据。如果我们发现R.鲁伯说，这将为研究海洋脊椎动物的扩散、海洋环境中双相生命周期的作用以及鱼类和其他脊椎动物的社会和交配系统的进化开辟新的研究途径。