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The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations

The unusual blue color polymorphism of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is the subject of much speculation but little empirical research; ~20% of lingcod individuals exhibit this striking blue color morph, which is discrete from and found within the same populations as the more common brown morph. In ot...

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Autores principales: Wood, Chelsea L., Leslie, Katie L., Greene, Alanna, Lam, Laurel S., Basnett, Bonnie, Hamilton, Scott L., Samhouri, Jameal F.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8719767/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34972116
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261202
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author Wood, Chelsea L.
Leslie, Katie L.
Greene, Alanna
Lam, Laurel S.
Basnett, Bonnie
Hamilton, Scott L.
Samhouri, Jameal F.
author_facet Wood, Chelsea L.
Leslie, Katie L.
Greene, Alanna
Lam, Laurel S.
Basnett, Bonnie
Hamilton, Scott L.
Samhouri, Jameal F.
author_sort Wood, Chelsea L.
collection PubMed
description The unusual blue color polymorphism of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is the subject of much speculation but little empirical research; ~20% of lingcod individuals exhibit this striking blue color morph, which is discrete from and found within the same populations as the more common brown morph. In other species, color polymorphisms are intimately linked with host–parasite interactions, which led us to ask whether blue coloration in lingcod might be associated with parasitism, either as cause or effect. To test how color and parasitism are related in this host species, we performed parasitological dissection of 89 lingcod individuals collected across more than 26 degrees of latitude from Alaska, Washington, and California, USA. We found that male lingcod carried 1.89 times more parasites if they were blue than if they were brown, whereas there was no difference in parasite burden between blue and brown female lingcod. Blue individuals of both sexes had lower hepatosomatic index (i.e., relative liver weight) values than did brown individuals, indicating that blueness is associated with poor body condition. The immune systems of male vertebrates are typically less effective than those of females, due to the immunocompromising properties of male sex hormones; this might explain why blueness is associated with elevated parasite burdens in males but not in females. What remains to be determined is whether parasites induce physiological damage that produces blueness or if both blue coloration and parasite burden are driven by some unmeasured variable, such as starvation. Although our study cannot discriminate between these possibilities, our data suggest that the immune system could be involved in the blue color polymorphism–an exciting jumping-off point for future research to definitively identify the cause of lingcod blueness and a hint that immunocompetence and parasitism may play a role in lingcod population dynamics.
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spelling pubmed-87197672022-01-01 The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations Wood, Chelsea L. Leslie, Katie L. Greene, Alanna Lam, Laurel S. Basnett, Bonnie Hamilton, Scott L. Samhouri, Jameal F. PLoS One Research Article The unusual blue color polymorphism of lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) is the subject of much speculation but little empirical research; ~20% of lingcod individuals exhibit this striking blue color morph, which is discrete from and found within the same populations as the more common brown morph. In other species, color polymorphisms are intimately linked with host–parasite interactions, which led us to ask whether blue coloration in lingcod might be associated with parasitism, either as cause or effect. To test how color and parasitism are related in this host species, we performed parasitological dissection of 89 lingcod individuals collected across more than 26 degrees of latitude from Alaska, Washington, and California, USA. We found that male lingcod carried 1.89 times more parasites if they were blue than if they were brown, whereas there was no difference in parasite burden between blue and brown female lingcod. Blue individuals of both sexes had lower hepatosomatic index (i.e., relative liver weight) values than did brown individuals, indicating that blueness is associated with poor body condition. The immune systems of male vertebrates are typically less effective than those of females, due to the immunocompromising properties of male sex hormones; this might explain why blueness is associated with elevated parasite burdens in males but not in females. What remains to be determined is whether parasites induce physiological damage that produces blueness or if both blue coloration and parasite burden are driven by some unmeasured variable, such as starvation. Although our study cannot discriminate between these possibilities, our data suggest that the immune system could be involved in the blue color polymorphism–an exciting jumping-off point for future research to definitively identify the cause of lingcod blueness and a hint that immunocompetence and parasitism may play a role in lingcod population dynamics. Public Library of Science 2021-12-31 /pmc/articles/PMC8719767/ /pubmed/34972116 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261202 Text en https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) public domain dedication.
spellingShingle Research Article
Wood, Chelsea L.
Leslie, Katie L.
Greene, Alanna
Lam, Laurel S.
Basnett, Bonnie
Hamilton, Scott L.
Samhouri, Jameal F.
The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
title The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
title_full The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
title_fullStr The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
title_full_unstemmed The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
title_short The weaker sex: Male lingcod (Ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
title_sort weaker sex: male lingcod (ophiodon elongatus) with blue color polymorphism are more burdened by parasites than are other sex–color combinations
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8719767/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34972116
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261202
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