Cross-reaction to skin extract between two gobies,Asterropteryx semipunctatus andBrachygobius sabanus

Two gobies that possess alarm pheromones were tested for cross-reactions to water extracts of injured members of the other species in the first such cross-reaction test conducted in the Family Gobiidae.A. semipunctatus reacted to extract from injuredBrachygobius sabanus with the same bobbing and reduction in activity as it shows in response to conspecific extract. However,B. sabanus showed a feeding response, including increased activity, to extract from injuredA. semipunctatus. Even a one-way cross-reaction suggests some degree of homology between the alarm pheromone systems of the two species.