Thyroid hormones regulate the formation and environmental plasticity of white bars in clownfishes.

ABSTRACT: Determining how plasticity of developmental traits responds to environmental conditions is a challenge that must combine evolutionary sciences, ecology, and developmental biology. During metamorphosis, fish alter their morphology and color pattern according to environmental cues. We observed that juvenile clownfish (Amphiprion percula) modulate the developmental timing of their adult white bar formation during metamorphosis depending on the sea anemone species in which they are recruited. We observed an earlier formation of white bars when clownfish developed with Stichodactyla gigantea (Sg) than with Heteractis magnifica (Hm). As these bars, composed of iridophores, form during metamorphosis, we hypothesized that timing of their development may be thyroid hormone (TH) dependent. We treate

SUBMITTER: Salis P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8201804 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature