Plasticity of Dispersal-Related Larval Traits in the Clown Anemonefish Amphiprion percula

A major goal in marine ecology is to understand patterns of larval dispersal and population connectivity. Dispersal plasticity allows for adaptive variation in dispersal phenotypes in response to variation in environmental conditions and may help to explain intraspecific variation in dispersal distances. However, this phenomenon has only been hypothesized for marine fishes. Here, we test the hypothesis that parents produce larvae with different dispersal-related traits in response to variation in environmental quality using the orange anemonefish, Amphiprion percula. By manipulating food rations in a crossover experimental design, we show that parents produce larger offspring on low-food rations than on high-food rations. However, there was no effect of parental diet on larval critical swimming speed. We also show that parents produce larvae with smaller otolith cores while on low-food rations, which, in combination with parentage analyses, may provide a way to test the dispersal plasticity hypothesis in the field. This study shows that parents can produce different larval phenotypes in response to variation in environmental conditions, demonstrating plasticity in a dispersal-related larval trait that may help to explain observed variation in A. percula larval dispersal distances. Incorporating dispersal plasticity into our understanding of marine dispersal patterns may enhance our understanding of marine metapopulation ecology, fisheries management, and conservation.