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

动物社会组织的顶点是群居性，在这种社会体系中，只有一个群体产生后代，由尽责的不育工人和战士保护和照顾。大多数群居系统发生在陆生无脊椎动物中，如蜜蜂、蚂蚁和黄蜂。唯一已知的真群居脊椎动物是裸鼹鼠，唯一已知的真群居海洋动物是食虾属的虾。到目前为止，还没有记录到群居的海洋脊椎动物。在这里，我们建议研究一种海洋脊椎动物，长牙虾虎鱼（Risor ruber），是否已经进化出一个真正的社会系统。由于：(1)小虾虎鱼具有亲缘选择的潜力；(2)小虾虎鱼在生态上与对虾相似，占据相似的海绵，表现出一种隐秘的生活方式，没有明显的分散。我们将通过研究伯利兹Carrie Bow Cay周围以及中美洲堡礁周围的群体的亲缘关系，分散和行为来探索R. ruber的社会性。我们的研究将是第一批关注加勒比海隐底栖珊瑚礁鱼类的研究之一，这一群体在珊瑚礁生态系统中扮演着重要的角色，但往往被忽视。因此，无论R. ruber的社会性如何，我们的研究将为珊瑚礁科学提供关键的基线数据。如果我们能发现橡胶树的群居性，这将为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提供新的研究途径。

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.