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CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN TILAPIA

13 Apr 2016 - Adelino V. M. Canário (Centro de Ciências do Mar, Universidade do Algarve) | April 18, 2016 - 15h00 | CIBIO-InBIO’s Auditorium, Campus de Vairão
CHEMICAL COMMUNICATION IN TILAPIA

CASUAL SEMINAR IN BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION

 

 

Communication and behaviour are tightly linked and fish use several sensory channels to communicate. Chemical communication is the most ancient form of communication but its role is often ignored because the substances involved are not known. Among the teleost fishes, cichlids are of special interest for the study evolution, for aquaculture and as invasive species in some parts of the world. In the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus), reproduction and male aggression are mediated through urinary cues tactically released by dominant males. The olfactory potency of male urine depends on the donors’ social rank. Females spawn preferentially with dominant males and increase sex steroid production in the presence of male urine. Moreover, dominant males increase urination frequency to signal their dominance status to rivals and reduce male-male aggression. The identity and biological function of the most potent odorants in the urine of dominant Mozambique tilapia males has been elucidated and are important tools to establish the associated neurobiological mechanisms and as potential tools for aquaculture and in population control.

 

Adelino V.M. Canário is a Professor at Faculty of Science and Technology of University of Algarve and the Director of the Algarve Centre of Marine Sciences.
Adelino received is PhD in Biology from the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK) in 1989, having studied the endocrine control of oocyte final maturation in fish at the Fisheries Laboratory (now CEFAS) at Lowestof. His current research focuses on: 1) roles, mechanisms of action and evolution of PTH family of peptides and Stanniocalcins, 2) primary sex determinants in fish, 3) origin, chemical nature and roles of pheromones in fish, 4) olfactory receptors and signal transduction, 5) reciprocal relationship between sex hormones and behaviour.

 

[Host: António Múrias dos Santos, Ecology and Evolution of Aquatic Organisms]

 

Image credits: Photo by Greg Hume

 

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