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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 17, 2025

Stable Isotope In-Vivo Labeling for Mass-Spectrometry Identification of Paternal Metabolites Transferred from Sperm to Oocyte During Fertilization
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Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects.

Jennifer A Atherton1,2, Mark I McCormick1,2

  • 1College of Science & Engineering, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

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|June 30, 2020
PubMed
Summary

Parental damselfish exposed to predators passed down predator recognition to offspring. This transgenerational threat information, confirmed for the first time, enhances offspring survival in changing marine environments.

Keywords:
Alarm odoursAntipredator behaviourEmbryosOlfactionParental effectsPredator recognition

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Area of Science:

  • Marine biology
  • Ecology
  • Animal behavior

Background:

  • Biodiverse ecosystems like coral reefs present numerous predatory threats to prey species.
  • Predator recognition, whether innate or learned, is crucial for prey survival.
  • Parental exposure to threats can influence offspring development, behavior, and success.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if parental exposure to predators can induce transgenerational recognition of specific threats in damselfish offspring.
  • To determine if learned threat information can be transmitted from parents to embryos.

Main Methods:

  • Breeding damselfish pairs (Acanthochromis polyacanthus) were exposed to olfactory and visual cues of predators, herbivores, or a control.
  • Developing embryos from these pairs were then exposed to various chemosensory cues.
  • Offspring heart rate was measured as an indicator of stress response.

Main Results:

  • Offspring from parents exposed to predator cues showed a twofold increase in heart rate when exposed to predator odor compared to offspring from control or herbivore-treated parents.
  • This heightened response indicates a learned or inherited recognition of the specific predator threat.
  • This is the first confirmation of transgenerational recognition of a specific predator in any species.

Conclusions:

  • Parental effects can transmit specific predator threat information across generations in damselfish.
  • This phenomenon can influence population dynamics by affecting predator-induced mortality.
  • Transgenerational recognition may allow populations to adapt to shifts in predator communities and environmental changes.