meeting 2018

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Mar 9, 2018 - most iconic of which, are desert-dwelling gobies in the genus Chlamydogobius. Adapted to a life ... Trond Amundsen & Sebastian Wacker ..... that males did not respond behaviorally to dark eyes or prefer dark-eyed females. ... Karin Olsson, Maria Norevik Andrén, Therése Larsson, Charlotta Kvarnemo.
GOBY MEETING 2018 Chioggia (Venice, Italy)



7th-9th March 2018 ABSTRACTS PLENARY Professor BOB WONG Gobies in the desert: behaviour, genes and persistence in a challenging world School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia The vast, arid interior of Central Australia is home to a unique freshwater fish fauna, among the most iconic of which, are desert-dwelling gobies in the genus Chlamydogobius. Adapted to a life of environmental extremes, desert gobies have proven to be an excellent model for understanding the role of environmental variation and arid connectivity in shaping the ecology, evolution and persistence of freshwater fishes in the desert. In this talk, I will discuss the origin of the Chlamydogobius group and the environmental drivers that have led to the diversification of these small, benthic fishes. I will also examine the role of behaviour and behavioural variation in contributing towards population and community stability, and how behavioural responses can help fish to exploit diverse habitats. Overall, the research contributes to our understanding of arid zone biodiversity, evolution, and the importance of behavioural traits for surviving under complex ecological conditions. In a contemporary setting, the findings also inform perspectives on the persistence and management of threatened desert fishes that are increasingly and urgently threatened by anthropogenic change. PLENARY Professor CAMERON GHALAMBOR Incorporating phenotypic plasticity into studies of adaptive evolution Department of Biology, Colorado State University, USA A fundamental challenge in studies of behavior, physiology, and morphology is how patterns of plasticity observed within a generation influence evolutionary changes in these traits across generations. New environments, such as those encountered during colonization events or those generated by human activities, are likely to induce a range of both adaptive and non-adaptive plastic responses, thus providing an opportunity to test the relationship between initially plastic responses and subsequent evolutionary change. I will review our work on Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata), where we have experimentally transplanted individuals adapted to a stream with cichlid predators to cichlid free streams. We have tested if plasticity in the source population predicts evolutionary change in the transplanted populations in a suite of traits, including gene

expression, behavior, body shape, growth rate, and metabolism. We find evidence for both adaptive and non-adaptive plastic responses in the source population and rapid evolution of traits and their plasticity’s in the experimental population. Traits exhibiting non-adaptive plasticity (i.e. a plastic response in the opposite direction favored by selection) diverge from the source population more rapidly. These results suggest traits exhibiting non-adaptive plasticity in new environments are likely to experience stronger directional selection and evolve more rapidly compared to traits exhibiting adaptive plasticity. Such results have broad implications for evolutionary, behavioral, and physiological ecology, and are relevant to many on-going studies of goby fishes. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Spatiotemporal variation in sexual dynamics and life history of G. flavescens: is mid-Norway a different story? Trond Amundsen & Sebastian Wacker Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway e-mail: [email protected] Studies of two-spotted gobies Gobiusculus flavescens in W Sweden have revealed strong temporal dynamics of sex ratio, mating competition and sexual selection, changing dramatically over the course of a short breeding season. However, smaller-scale studies in W Norway and SW Finland have suggested that sexual dynamics of G. flavescens may vary not only in time but also geographically. Thus, the model system appears highly suited for analyses of spatiotemporal variation in sexual selection. Here, we present preliminary results from a recently established study system in mid-Norway (at Bispøyan by Hitra) that appears to have very different dynamics of sexual selection than previously documented in W Sweden. This study system is subject to significantly colder climatic conditions than in W Sweden. In mid-Norway, the within-season trajectory of the operational sex ratio seems to be opposite to that in W Sweden, with an increasingly male-biased operational sex ratio over the course of the breeding season. Mortality, particularly in males, seems to be lower in mid-Norway than in W Sweden. Despite low water temperatures, many females have mature gonads early in the breeding season and the proportion of ‘round’ (mating-ready) females decreases from early May until late June. The density of adults stay high until the end of August despite that breeding typically ceases in June or July. Taken together, our pilot work in mid-Norway suggests extensive spatiotemporal dynamics of sexual selection and life history in G. flavescens, adding to the suitability of the model system in analyses of sexual selection dynamics.

Measuring competitive strength in the field – a new approach based on dietary competition between native and invasive juvenile fishes in a large stream Jost Borcherding & Svenja Gertzen Institute for Zoology of the University of Cologne, Germany e-mail: [email protected] In the past decades, the River Rhine has become a food limited system, which additionally has been invaded by Ponto-Caspian Gobiidae, suggesting dietary competition between native and invasive fishes. For juveniles of invasive and native species we analyzed their seasonal densities within the fish community, along with species-specific consumption rates. As dietary competition is hard to determine from field data without the use of enclosures or removal of a species, we established a new estimate of competitive strength concerning food uptake solely based on field data. Juvenile fish communities were clearly dominated by invasive gobies. With increasing dietary overlap, species-specific consumption rates decreased, with bighead goby showing by far the highest individual consumption rate followed by round goby, pikeperch, asp, monkey goby and finally perch. Highest competitive abilities were observed in the invasive round and monkey goby. In contrast to asp, a species that used food sources that weren´t used by any of the other species, juvenile stages of perch and pikeperch had lowest values of competitive strength on the use of food resources, indicating that these species are forced into a juvenile competitive bottleneck by the invasive gobies. Our results highlight the importance to measure effects newly arrived gobies have on interactions and competitive abilities of native species. Measuring competitive strength on the dietary axis based solely on field data is a useful method not only for organisms for which experimental approaches may not be realistic, because of constraints on sizes, number of competitors, varying densities and seasonal effects. The bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus exploits hydrogen sulphide and low oxygen on the Namibian shelf Bronwen Currie, Anne Gro Vea Salvanes, Anne Christine Utne-Palm, Heidi Skrypzeck Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Swakopmund, Namibia e-mail: [email protected] The shelf sediments off Namibia are some of the most unusual and extreme marine habitats because of their extremely high hydrogen sulphide concentrations. Hydrogen sulphide and little oxygen in the bottom waters of this boundary upwelling system, force benthic communities to adapt lifestyles to deal physically, physiologically and behaviourally with these stressful conditions. The upside of hydrogen sulphide is that it fuels extensive mats of large sulphide-oxidizing bacteria on the seabed, which create detoxified habitat niches and food for the animals living there. An important fish species – the bearded goby Sufflogobius bibarbatus - exploits and thrives in this oxygen-starved benthic system, playing a critical role in the food web that supports commercially important fish stocks such as hake (Merluccius capensis). Experimental and in situ research has shown these gobies to be tolerant of the sulphidic conditions that occur naturally on the Namibian shelf. Whilst known that this goby attaches its eggs to solid substrate and the male performs

parental care of the egg masses, many important questions remain regarding the breeding sites and tolerance of larvae to hydrogen sulphide and low oxygen. Such knowledge is urgently needed in view of applications to mine the Namibian shelf for phosphorites. This fascinating biological system likely operates close to a tipping point, balancing always on the edge of hydrogen sulphide toxification and limited oxygen availability. High resolution behaviour of round goby in the wild Gustav Hellström & Tomas Brodin SLU Umeå / Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden e-mail: [email protected], [email protected] The round goby is one of the most successful aquatic invaders globally and yet we have very limited knowledge of its behavioural characteristics in the wild. Here we present fine-scale acoustic telemetry tracking data on round goby from a newly invaded coastal habitat in the southern Baltic sea, Sweden. Behaviour and movement of 30 round goby were monitored in detail over a 1km2 area between April and November 2016. The study reveals for the first time diurnal and seasonal variation in Round goby behaviour in the wild at a resolution previously not achieved. Painted goby females go for looks rather than sounds in noisy circumstances Karen de Jong, Clara Amorim, Paulo Fonseca, Katja Heubel Institute for Marine Research, Bergen, Norway e-mail: [email protected] Selection pressures on signals can be substantially modified by a changing environment, but we know little about how this works across modalities. The currently increasing levels of anthropogenic noise in the ocean may affect the use of acoustic signalling relative to other modalities. In the painted goby (Pomatoschistus pictus), visual and acoustic signals interplay in courtship behaviour, but females usually rely more heavily on acoustic signals than on visual signals in mate choice. In an aquarium experiment, we compared male courtship behaviour and female spawning decisions between silent treatments and treatments with additional noise. We found that both visual and acoustic courtship signals were affected by noise. Some signal types from both modalities were reduced in treatments with additional noise, while others remained unchanged. Female choice, as well as the likelihood to spawn was affected by additional noise. A pathway analysis revealed that females pay more attention to visual than to acoustic courtship in noisy circumstances. We conclude that environmental stressors can cause shifts in the use of different signalling modalities and discuss how selection pressures on multimodal signals may change with increasing noise-levels.

Reproductive trade-offs in the two-spotted goby under high pCO2 levels Ana Maria Faria, A.F. Lopes, C.S.E. Silva, S.C. Novais, M.F.L. Lemos, E.J. Gonçalves MARE-ISPA, Lisbon, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] Fishes are currently facing novel types of anthropogenic stressors that have never experienced in their evolutionary history, such as ocean acidification. Under these stressful conditions, energetically costly processes, such as reproduction, may be sacrificed for increased chances of survival. This trade-off not only affects the organism itself but may result in reduced offspring fitness. In the present study, the effects of exposure to high pCO2 levels were tested on the reproductive performance of a temperate species, the two-spotted goby, Gobiusculus flavescens. Breeding pairs were kept under control (~ 600 μatm, pH~ 8.05) and high pCO2 levels (~ 2300 μatm, pH~ 7.60) conditions for a 4-month period. Additionally, oxidative stress and energy metabolism-related biomarkers were measured. Results suggest that reproductive activity is stimulated under high pCO2 levels. Parental pairs in the simulated ocean acidification conditions exhibited increased reproductive output, with 50% more clutches and 44% more eggs per clutch than pairs under control conditions. However, there was an apparent trade-off between offspring number and size, as larvae of parental pairs under high pCO2 levels hatched significantly smaller, suggesting differences in parental provisioning, which could be related to the fact that these females produce more eggs. Moreover, results support the hypothesis of different energy allocation strategies used by females under high pCO2 conditions. These changes might, ultimately, affect individual fitness and population replenishment. Elevated CO2 affects embryonic development and larval phototaxis in the two-spotted goby Elisabet Forsgren1, Sam Dupont2, Fredrik Jutfelt2 & Trond Amundsen4 1 Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway 2 Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden 3 Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway e-mail: [email protected] As an effect of anthropogenic CO2 emissions, the chemistry of the world’s oceans is changing. Understanding how this will affect marine organisms and ecosystems are critical in predicting the impacts of this ongoing ocean acidification. Work on coral reef fishes has revealed dramatic effects of elevated oceanic CO2 on sensory responses and behavior. Such effects may be widespread but have almost exclusively been tested on tropical reef fishes. We tested the effects elevated CO2 has on the reproduction and early life history stages of a temperate coastal goby with paternal care by allowing goby pairs to reproduce naturally in an aquarium with either elevated (ca 1400 μatm) CO2 or control seawater (ca 370 μatm CO2). Elevated CO2 did not affect the occurrence of spawning nor clutch size, but increased embryonic abnormalities and egg loss. Moreover, we found that elevated CO2 significantly affected the phototactic response of newly hatched larvae. Phototaxis is a vision-related fundamental behavior of many marine fishes, but has not before been tested in the context of ocean acidification. Our findings suggest that ocean

acidification affects embryonic development and sensory responses in temperate fishes, with potentially important implications for fish recruitment. Ovary and liver size in the sand goby: understanding resource driven female-female competition Aurora García-Berro & Charlotta Kvarnemo University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] The operational sex ratio (OSR, ratio of ready-to-mate males to females) is central determining mating competition. A shortage of a resource essential for reproduction of one sex can affect OSR and lead to opposite-sex competition for resource-holding mates. In the sand goby (Pomatoschitus minutus), a fish with paternal care, male readiness to mate depends on acquiring a nest-site and food abundance impacts female egg production. Here we indirectly estimate potential female mating competition due to OSR biases in two populations (Baltic Sea: few nest-sites, much food; and North Sea: many nest-sites, less food) by comparing body condition and gonadal investment. We found both ovaries and liver relative size of females (storage of vitellogenic compounds) to be significantly larger in the Baltic Sea, which could be related to female-limited spawning opportunities due to low availability of nest-holding males in this population. Our results confirm the expected female-biased OSR in the Baltic Sea compared to the North Sea. The results also indicate a higher allocation in sex-related structures in females, suggesting a stronger femalefemale competition, possibly enhanced by a greater potential for male mate choice for large ovary size in this population. This study points towards the existence of populational differences in reproductive allocation in the sand goby, likely reflecting differences in intensity of mating competition and sexual selection pressures between these wild populations, differences which may lead to adaptive divergence. Round goby sperm in native and non-native salinities – evolutionary trajectories and implications for management Leon Green, Charlotta Kvarnemo University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] Invasive gobies provide opportunities to study populations that experience novel environmental conditions. If adaptation to the novel environment occurs, this in turn can also facilitate range expansion of the invasive species, with further ecological impact. The round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) is native to the freshwater and brackish region around the Black Sea. Despite continued shipping-associated spread of the species into fresh and brackish water, no establishment of the species in fully marine conditions (>30 ‰ salinity) has been reported. Adults tolerate salinities above these conditions, so why has the species not invaded oceanic coastlines? Sperm velocity in external fertilizers is triggered by osmolality differences and is directly associated with fertilization success. Since sperm are also sensitive (and often locally adapted) to

salinity conditions, it has been hypothesized that the round goby is limited by reproductive dysfunction in high salinity. The species is spreading naturally towards both higher and lower salinity in the Darwinian laboratory that is the Baltic Sea. Given that the round goby has already spread to salinities ranging from 0-20‰ points to an effective plasticity or strong ability to adapt to local conditions. We investigate their sperm performance optima and limits by comparing populations in different salinities using CASA. Here we present sperm performance data from a range of localities with the goal of assessing whether they are locally adapted or not. Variation in growth, morphology and reproduction of the bearded goby (Sufflogobius bibarbatus) in varying oxygen environments of northern Benguela Anne Gro Vea Salvanes, Henrik Christiansen, Yusra Taha, Christina Henseler, Maria Larsen Seivåg, Olav Sigurd Kjesbu, Arild Folkvord, Anne Christine Utne-Palm, Bronwen Currie, Werner Ekau, Anja K. van der Plas, Mark J Gibbons Department of Biology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway e-mail: [email protected] This paper presents a concerted study on gender-specific body growth, morphology and reproduction of the bearded goby (Sufflogobius bibarbatus) in Namibian waters. We examine how these vital functions vary over the shelf area and with oxygen levels. The study expands previous work on reproduction of males. The present study reconfirmed that bottom oxygen levels largely varies, and shows that there is spatial variation in size composition, condition factor and maturation over the shelf area. Low oxygen (< 0.5 ml L-1 DO) did not hinder reproduction in the bearded goby, and maturing and mature females and males are found mostly at the outer shelf edge at 150-200 m depth along a shelf-transect off Walvis Bay. Histology of gonads gave further support to the usefulness of the macroscopic scale applied for assessing maturity. Mean fecundity of maturing oocytes was 1060 + 690 g-1, and no spatial difference in fecundity could be detected. Individuals were smallest in the North where also oxygen levels were low. There was a latitudinal trend of increasing relative condition of bearded goby from north to south. The data also demonstrate sexual size dimorphism with males larger than females, and support previous findings suggesting alternative reproductive tactics in males. The data suggest that reproductive tactics could be associated with morphological differences. Assumed territorial males were larger and older than assumed sneaking tactics, and all morphological measures, except eye diameter, were larger both on absolute scale and relative to standard length, in territorial males compared to sneakers. The data suggest that the adaptation of sneaker males could be female mimicry. The role of unclassified males was less clear. The findings are discussed in view of environmental variation and behavioural ecology.

Effects of salinity on growth, metabolism, and behaviour in overwintering invasive gobies Katja Heubel, Veronica Zilz, Jost Borcherding Ecological Research Station Rees, Institute for Zoology, University of Cologne, Germany e-mail: [email protected] Round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) successfully invaded and established populations both in freshwater and brackish habitats in rivers and estuaries throughout Western Europe as well as the Great Lakes region in North America. We address the question of phenotypic plasticity, local adaptation and ecological divergence incurred by salinity differences and its direct and indirect effects on morphology, metabolism, behaviour and gonadal investment after being exposed to controlled overwintering conditions at native or foreign salinity conditions. Our results reveal different overwintering reaction norms, striking differences in morphological differences between populations, consistent individual behavioural types, and a strong effect of salinity exposure - regardless of population origin. We will discuss our results with an emphasis on the important links between individual behavior, its population background, and the environmental context. We aim at contributing to the lively ongoing debate on the plasticity and consistency of pace-of life and behavioural syndromes and its underlying reaction norms. Trophic niches in round goby expand across an ongoing invasion Philipp Emanuel Hirsch, Anouk N’guyen, Irene Adrian-Kalchhauser, Elisabeth Lutz, Patricia Burkhardt-Holm Program Man-Society-Environment, University of Basel, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] Classic niche theory describes the trophic niche as the result of food web interactions within and across a population’s individuals. Stable isotope analyses (SIA) allow to describe such food web interactions by integrating resource use over several months. Novel statistical tools apply these SIA-data to realistically model trophic niches. Here, we use this approach to address a fundamental prediction of ecological theory: that a population’s niche expands during the colonization of a novel habitat. We use a five-years data series of trophic position (using N15 SIA) and corrected carbon food sources (using C13 SIA) from standardized catches of an invasive round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) population colonizing the River Rhine in Switzerland. To complement this time series with a space-for-time approach we compare two invasion stages (two year-old vs. five- year-old) along a latitudinal gradient in the River Rhine. We find that niches significantly expand in breadth during colonization of a habitat across five years. A more recently established population in the River Rhine also had much smaller niches than a longer established one in another part of the river. This complies well with a classic but rarely quantified prediction in ecology. We discuss these observations in the context of fundamental ecological niche theory and invasion biology. In ecology it is assumed that niche differentiation facilitates the coexistence of species within a community if differentiation reduces trophic overlap. For invasion biology this means that predicting trophic interactions between native and invasive species must acknowledge that invasive populations’ niches change during the colonization process.

Dark eyes in female sand gobies indicate readiness to spawn Karin H. Olsson, Sandra Johansson, Eva-Lotta Blom, Kai Lindström, Ola Svensson, Helen Nilsson Sköld, Charlotta Kvarnemo Dept of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] In animals, colorful and conspicuous ornaments enhance individual attractiveness to potential mates, but are typically tempered by natural selection for crypsis and predator protection. In species where males compete for females, this can lead to highly ornamented males competing for mating opportunities with choosy females, and vice versa. However, even where males compete for mating opportunities, females may exhibit conspicuous displays. These female displays are often poorly understood and it may be unclear whether they declare mating intent, signal intrasexual aggression or form a target for male mate preference. We examined the function of the conspicuous dark eyes that female sand gobies temporarily display during courtship by experimentally testing if males preferred to associate with females with artificially darkened eyes and if dark eyes are displayed during female aggression. By observing interactions between a male and two females freely associating in an aquarium we also investigated in which context females naturally displayed dark eyes. We found that dark eyes were more likely to be displayed by more gravid females than less gravid females and possibly ahead of spawning, but that males did not respond behaviorally to dark eyes or prefer dark-eyed females. Females behaving aggressively did not display dark eyes. We suggest that dark eyes are not a signal per se but may be an aspect of female mate choice, possibly related to vision. Is the ejaculate investment of grass goby males changing? An indication from sperm performances Lisa Locatello, Federica Poli, Maria B. Rasotto Department of Biology, University of Padova, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Since several years, we investigate on postcopulatory sexual selection using the grass goby (Zosterisessor ophiocephalus) as a model species with guard-sneaker reproductive tactics. We found that alternative male phenotypes differently invest in the ejaculate, with sneakers producing more sperm than territorials, that vice-versa invest more in the seminal fluid. Moreover, a crucial tactic-specific difference in the seminal fluid effect on sperm performance does also exist. Sperm of the two tactics show an equal performance in their own seminal fluid, but sperm of sneakers increase their performance in the presence of territorial male’s seminal fluid, and sneaker’s fluid has a detrimental effect on the performance of territorial males’ sperm. To infer the effect of seminal fluid’s components on male fertilization ability, we continued collecting data on the sperm performance of the two male phenotypes. This allowed us to get a comprehensive dataset across many reproductive seasons that now unveils an unexpected scenario. Indeed, while up to 2012 sperm velocity of sneaker and territorial males in their own

fluid was equal, in the following years, sneakers’ sperm velocity has become significantly higher than territorials’ one. Further analyses on sperm ATP content and on mitochondrial respiration efficiency confirm the higher intrinsic sperm quality of sneaker sperm in the last years. This opens the exciting possibility to understand how this changes might influence the whole ejaculate investment and the outcome of competition, accounting also for the cross-interaction with seminal fluids, as we previously did when the sperm performances of the two tactics were equal. Individual differences in the trade-off between risk taking and parental care in nest-guarding common gobies Carin Magnhagen Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] Investments into parental care should depend on the probability of offspring survival and on expectations of future reproduction. It has earlier been shown that nest-guarding common goby males take higher risks with time spent guarding a brood. I have re-analysed old data from a field study looking at the behaviour of nest guarding males over a nesting cycle. The question here is whether consistent individual behaviour differences will lead to differences in reproductive success. Two behaviours were quantified, in the presence of a potential predator: 1) time away from nest after being evicted, by the approach of a finger, and 2) the distance between the finger and the nest when the male escaped from the nest. Out of 24 males, 8 abandoned their nest after 4-5 days, the nest being disarranged, possibly by an egg predator. Twelve males remained on their nest for 8 days and 4 males for 6-7 days. The males that abandoned early were on average larger than the ones that remained for the full nesting cycle. GLMMs with the behaviour measurements as response variables showed that time away from nest was positively correlated with length, and an interaction between length and day was significant. For escape distance a tendency for a negative correlation with day was found. Between-male variance explained 30-36% of the total variance of behaviour, while within-male variance was negligible. In conclusion, larger males seemed to take less risks, and abandoned their nests prematurely, maybe because of higher probability of re-mating compared to smaller males. Egg predation, nest defence and the effect of hypoxia Karin Olsson, Maria Norevik Andrén, Therése Larsson, Charlotta Kvarnemo Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science, United Kingdom e-mail: [email protected] Nests often help a parent to protect its eggs and young against predators, but to aquatic animals like fish, a well-covered nest will also impede water flow and lower oxygen levels inside the nest, potentially to the detriment of the developing clutch. A guarding parent must therefore balance conflicting pressures when building and maintaining the nest. We investigated how these conflicts manifest themselves by studying how the presence of potential egg predators in the form of two

unrestrained shore crabs (Carcinus maenas) affected the nest and behaviour of egg-guarding male sand gobies (Pomatoschistus minutus) in terms nest appearance, egg fanning, defensive displays and egg cannibalism under normoxia versus hypoxia. Sand goby nests can be entirely covered by sand with an entrance no larger than the head of the guarding male, and we found that males in normoxia retain nest opening size while male in hypoxia increase the opening, even though crabs were more likely to intrude into nests with larger openings. We also found that males increased the defensive displays when crabs were present but while males in normoxia reduced theirs fanning, males in hypoxia did not. There was no difference in filial cannibalism between the treatments. This suggests that sand gobies prioritise egg ventilation over a more secure nest and adopt defensive behaviour to deter predators, but that hypoxia is still likely to negatively affect reproductive success. Origin and age of European Gobies Ulrich K. Schliewen, Agorreta A., Kovačić M., Alexandrou M.A., van Tassell J., Rüber L. SNSB – Bavarian State Collection of Zoology e-mail: [email protected] With more than 1800 described species the teleost fish family Gobiidae is the second most species rich fish family globally. Approximately 200 species are distributed in the temperate and eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea, in Ponto-Caspian fresh and brackish waters and along the Southern African Cape. We present the first comprehensive molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for these Afro-European gobies belonging to the three previously established Gobius-, Pomatoschistus- and Aphia- lineages sensu Agorretta et a. (2013). The analysis is based on approx. 5000 basepairs of nuclear and mitochondrial markers. The taxon sampling contains members of all genera of these lineages as well as a global outgroup sample. Fossil calibration is applied conservatively with carefully selected fossils (with and without secondary root calibration) and includes alternative placements of fossils accounting for phylogenetic uncertainty. The Gobiuslineage includes the Southern African genus Caffrogobius and the Western Indian Ocean genus Coryogalops. Sister taxa of all three lineages turn out to be of Indo-Pacific origin. A biogeographic analysis tests alternative hypotheses about immigration pathways from the Indo-Pacific to the Atlantic, Mediterranean and Ponto-Caspis. Phylogenetic results will be a useful backbone to test hypotheses in the phylogenetic context. Invading the invader - eye fluke infection in a Baltic round goby population Henrik Flink, Jane W. Behrens , P. Andreas Svensson Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnaues University, Kalmar, Sweden e-mail: [email protected] Over the last ten years, round gobies (Neogobius melanostomus) have invaded the coast line of South-eastern Sweden and have become the dominating benthic in-shore fish species. We discovered very high prevalences of eye fluke parasites (Diplostomum) in this goby population.

Many fish appeared blinded by severe cataract cause by heavy infections, and gobies with high catarct scores expressed reduced responses to simulated avian predation. This behavioural change is likely to help the eye-fluke complete its life-cycle, because birds are the final hosts. Other important anti-predator behaviours such as boldness and shelter use appeared unaffected by the eye flukes. Molecular analyses suggested that two species (D. mergi and D. paracaudum) dominate in the round goby eyes. Many questions remain and there are several exciting prospects for future research and collaborations. For example, from where do these eye flukes originate? Are they the same as the ones infecting endemic gobies (sand, common and black goby). Do endemic gobies have a better protection against Baltic eye flukes? If round gobies are naïve to endemic parasites, will this impact their current invasion of the Baltic Sea? Phylogeny of the Adriatic Sand Gobies 1 Christelle Tougard, 2Jasna Vukić, 3Radek Šanda 1 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, Univ. Montpellier, France 2 Dept. of Ecology, Charles University, Praha, Czech Republic 3 Dept. of Zoology, National Museum, Praha, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] The Mediterranean Sea is considered as a biodiversity hotspot. The causes of this high biodiversity are related to the complex and tormented geological history of the Mediterranean basin during the Tertiary and to the climatic fluctuations of the Quaternary. Although the Mediterranean Sea as a whole constitutes a distinctive province of the Atlantic-Mediterranean biogeographic region, a lot of biogeographic sub-regions can be recognized in the Mediterranean Sea. Among these subregions, the Adriatic Sea is an area with particularly high species richness, and a large number of endemics possibly due to its higher isolation. In this area, eight species of sand gobies are endemic: six species of Knipowitschia and two species of Pomatoschistus. Several other species of sand gobies have larger distribution ranges that include also the Adriatic Sea The aim of the present study was thus to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of the Adriatic sand gobies from mitochondrial (cytochrome b gene) and nuclear (rhodopsin 1 gene) markers, as well as the species limits in order to identify possible cryptic species. The preliminary results suggest that the sand gobies of the Adriatic Sea are not monophyletic, just like the genera Knipowitschia and Pomatoschistus. Cryptic diversity is suspected in the species K. panizzae and P. canestrinii. Moreover, several clades could correspond to new species.

POSTERS Round goby eggs and leisure boats – the search for the missing link (a proposal) Karen Bussmann & Patricia Burkhardt-Holm University of Basel, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] The invasive round goby keeps occurring at formerly goby-free regions that are not directly connected to any invaded area. Especially in waters where there is no industrial shipping, this saltatory dispersal pattern often matches private boating activities. Translocation of round goby eggs attached to leisure boats that are moved to new water bodies is therefore considered a probable way of distribution. Round goby eggs are able to withstand considerable flow and prolonged times of desiccation with high survival rates. Preventive measures for the protection of uninvaded water bodies hence increasingly include boat cleaning protocols. However, observational evidence of goby eggs attached to boat hulls is missing and along with this, measures of the efficiency of boat cleaning procedures. In my dissertation project, I aim to provide new insights on how goby eggs or larvae can be transported with leisure boats and how this could be prevented. This includes finding out under which circumstances round gobies use boat structures as nesting opportunities, to investigate the mechanisms of round goby egg attachment and with this to find efficient ways of removing them from boat hulls and gear. Additionally, I want to investigate the option that goby eggs or larvae are translocated as part of biofouling communities. I will present these questions with the corresponding methods I am planning to use to answer them. This study ought to lead to a better informed way of treating and cleaning boats to ultimately prevent the spreading of the round goby to more uninvaded waters. Are they mixed together? Genetic variability between geographically distant populations of European marine gobies 1 Katarína Chalupecká, 2Radek Šanda, 1Jasna Vukić 1 Department of Ecology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 2 Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] Gobies (Gobiidae, Actinopterygii) are small, predominantly cryptic, marine, brackish and freshwater fishes. They abundantly inhabit coastal waters, although their occurrence is far from being mapped due to their inconspicity, often hidden lifestyle and a lack of commercial use. Information about distribution of many species is therefore still rather poor. Many species are known only from a few locations scattered throughout the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic. This suggests that most species could actually have a relatively continuous distribution area. Comparing the genetic variability of geographically distant populations of the same species can help to detect whether the populations are genetically isolated from each other. The aim of the project was to compare genetic structure of the populations of three goby species, whose material is available from several geographically distant areas. The project is based on molecular-genetic

methods. The mitochondrial marker cytochrome b was used. The results show that the populations of studied species are not isolated and no geographic structure has been demonstrated. High intrapopulational variability was found. Due to the fact that adults do not migrate, passive transport of planktonic larvae is probably very important for the genetic structure of populations. Evolutionary history of the marbled goby in the Mediterranean Sea Christelle Tougard, Jasna Vukić, Radek Šanda 1 Institut des Sciences de l’Evolution de Montpellier, Univ. Montpellier, France 2 Dept. of Ecology, Charles University, Praha, Czech Republic 3 Dept. of Zoology, National Museum, Praha, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] The Pomatoschistus gobies are small fishes of great interest because of their role in the aquatic ecosystem processes and in the food chain, and because of their high sensibility to ecological variations. They are adapted to European coastal and lagoon environments. Several evolutionary scenarios have been proposed to explain the high degree of genetic differentiation as well as the distribution of the sedentary gobies in the Mediterranean lagoons. However, some points of their evolutionary history remain unsolved: what is the origin of the sedentary goby species? How did they disperse through time? How is the phylogeographic structure of the Mediterranean populations? Is this potential structure the result of Quaternary climatic changes or of the biogeographic structure of the Mediterranean Sea? An attempt of answer to these questions is provided by the investigation of the phylogeographic structure and demographic history of Pomatoschistus marmoratus (marbled goby) populations from mitochondrial sequences (cytochrome b gene and control region) through their whole distribution. Because of its sedentary life cycle in Mediterranean lagoons, it is also a good model to study more if the formation of lagoons during the Holocene had an impact on population structure and demography. Preliminary results suggest that the populations of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea belong to several evolutionary lineages, whereas only one was identified in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Moderate to high population structure was underlined for these two areas, suggesting some gene flow between populations. Moreover, the origin of P. marmoratus probably lies within the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, around Turkey. Gobies in Norway Elisabet Forsgren & Camilla Næss Norwegian Institute for Nature Research, Trondheim, Norway e-mail: In a new project with funding from the Biological Diversity Information Centre in Norway (Artsdatabanken), we will present all Norwegian gobies on the web (“Arter på nett”/ ”Species on

the web”). The aim is to provide useful and interesting information in a popular and accessible way. The project will consist of a general introduction to gobies of the world, and descriptions of the Norwegian species as well as the unwanted round goby. We will provide brief popularized scientific knowledge on phylogeny, species distributions, species recognition, ecology and behavior. The plan is to also have photos, videos, and audiofiles. The 14 species in the project are: Pomatoschistus minutus, P. microps, P. pictus, P. norvegicus, Gobiusculus flavescens, Buenia jeffreysii, Crystallogobius linearis, Lebetus scorpioides, L. guilleti, Gobius niger, Thorogobius ephippiatus, Aphia minuta, Lesuerigobius friesii, and the invasive Neogobius melanostomus not yet found in Norway. If you have nice photos, short videos, sound files etc. that you are happy to let us use, or if you have suggestions of interesting and curious findings … please contact us Phylogenetic relationships within the Gobius-lineage (Gobiidae) 1 Tereza Slámová, 2Radek Šanda, 1Jasna Vukić 1 Department of Ecology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic 2 Department of Zoology, National Museum, Prague, Czech Republic e-mail: [email protected] In Europe, three independent lineages of gobies exist, Gobius-, Aphia- and Pomatoschistuslineage. There is no study focused on the whole Gobius-lineage on the species level. We performed a multilocus study of the Gobius–lineage encompassing the majority of the species. Mitochondrial (cytochrome b and cytochrome c oxidase I) as well as nuclear (rhodopsin and recombination activating gene) markers were used. The results show that the genus Gobius is not monophyletic. It is divided into two well-supported groups. Also, the genera Vanneaugobius and Padogobius are polyphyletic. Further, our results revealed existence of cryptic diversity inside genera Gobius and Chromogobius. The relationships between genera as well as within genera are often not resolved well, indicating that the evolutionary events took place in a short time-frame. Finally, we observed high genetic differences between marine species, with the only exceptions being so called yellow gobies (Gobius xanthocephalus, G. auratus and G. falax). The individual species can be easily identified based on the DNA barcoding. Do round gobies overcome strong currents in fish passes? -Application of 3D-printed fish Joschka Wiegleb, Philipp E. Hirsch, Patricia Burkhardt-Holm University of Basel, Program MGU, Switzerland e-mail: [email protected] Barriers, such as fish passes hinder the upstream migration of fish. Non-benthic migratory fish species may surpass barriers via active swimming and are well investigated. Benthic fish species are rarely studied. Measurements of their movements and behavior in the flow is more difficult and of higher complexity. Vortices and turbulences are assumed to play a major role in swimming behavior of those species. Benthic fish species in our rivers are, for example, native bullheads and

gudgeon, whereas round goby is an invasive species of benthic fish. The aim of this study is to compare these species with respect to the movement of the body and forces acting on the body in a setting of a swim chamber, simulating a fish pass situation. An experiment will be designed working printed 3D-models of various forms of the named fish species. This experiment is expected to enable the determination of forces acting on the fish at varying flow, ground structure and fish species independently from swimming activities. Further steps might be the transfer of our observations to living animals and field conditions. We expect to gain knowledge about how “bad swimmers”, such as round gobies, are able to stay and spread in habitats with strong currents. This is expected to lead to insights on how fish passes and barrages can be modified to avoid round goby dispersal and support migration of native species.