Embryonic developmental plasticity in the long-snouted seahorse (Hippocampus reidi, Ginsburg 1933) in relation to parental preconception diet
Francisco Otero-Ferrer A , Marisol Izquierdo A , Alireza Fazeli B and William V. Holt B C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Grupo de Investigación en Acuicultura (ULPGC), Parque Cientifico Tecnológico, Taliarte 35200, Telde (Las Palmas), España.
B Academic Unit of Reproductive and Developmental Medicine, University of Sheffield, Level 4, Jessop Wing, Tree Root Walk, Sheffield S10 2SF, UK.
C Corresponding author. Email: bill.holt@sheffield.ac.uk
Reproduction, Fertility and Development 28(7) 1020-1028 https://doi.org/10.1071/RD14169
Submitted: 22 May 2014 Accepted: 17 November 2014 Published: 17 December 2014
Abstract
The aim of the present study was to investigate the hypothesis that parental periconception nutrition in adult seahorses affects the development and growth of their offspring. We tested the hypothesis that because seahorse embryos develop inside the male’s brood pouch, manipulation of the male’s diet would affect offspring growth and development independently of the female’s diet. Adult males and females were fed separately with either wild-caught crustaceans or commercial aquarium diet for 1 month before conception to influence the periconception environment. Approximately 10 000 offspring were obtained from four different treatment groups (Male/Wild or Male/Commercial × Female/Wild or Female/Commercial). Weights, physical dimensions and fatty acid profiles of the newborns were determined. Offspring produced when the males receiving commercial diet were mated with wild-fed females were larger (P < 0.05) than those produced by wild-fed males. When both males and females were fed with commercial diet, their offspring were significantly smaller than those from the other treatment groups. When commercial diet-fed females were mated with wild-fed males, the offspring showed distortion of the snout : head length ratio. These results support the view that the preconception diet received by males and females differentially affects embryonic development.
Additional keywords: fetal programming, fish, polyunsaturated fatty acids, pouch function, reproduction.
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