Paternal care regulates the timing, synchrony and success of hatching in a coral reef fish.

ABSTRACT: In oviparous species, the timing of hatching is a crucial decision, but for developing embryos, assessing cues that indicate the optimal time to hatch is challenging. In species with pre-hatching parental care, parents can assess environmental conditions and induce their offspring to hatch. We provide the first documentation of parental hatching regulation in a coral reef fish, demonstrating that male neon gobies (Elacatinus colini) directly regulate hatching by removing embryos from the clutch and spitting hatchlings into the water column. All male gobies synchronized hatching within 2 h of sunrise, regardless of when eggs were laid. Paternally incubated embryos hatched later in development, more synchronously, and had higher hatching success than artificially incubated embryos tha

SUBMITTER: Majoris JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9470247 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature