Reproductive interference in live-bearing fish: the male guppy is a potential biological agent for eradicating invasive mosquitofish

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 5439
• Main Authors: Tsurui-Sato, K., Fujimoto, S., Deki, O., Suzuki, T., Tatsuta, H., Tsuji, K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.04.2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 20th century; 631/158/2178; 631/158/2459; 631/158/853; 631/158/856; 631/181/2470; Animal behavior; Animal reproduction; Animals; Biological control; Competitive Behavior; Cyprinodontiformes - physiology; Ecosystem; Females; Fitness; Generalized linear models; Humanities and Social Sciences; Introduced Species; Invasive fish; Japan; Laboratories; Male; Males; multidisciplinary; Native species; Pest Control, Biological - methods; Poecilia - physiology; Radiation; Reproduction; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sexual behavior; Japan
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41858-y

The eradication of invasive exotic species is desirable but often infeasible. Here, we show that male guppies are a potential biological agent for eradicating invasive mosquitofish through the mechanism of reproductive interference, which is defined as any sexual behavior erratically directed at a different species that damages female and/or male fitness. Together with decades of data on species distribution, our field surveys suggest that mosquitofish initially became established on Okinawa Island before being replaced by the more recently introduced guppies. More importantly, our laboratory experiments suggest that reproductive interference was one of the mechanisms underlying this species exclusion, and that in this case, the negative effects were asymmetric, i.e., they only impacted mosquitofish. Reproductive interference may offer a safer and more convenient method of biological control than the traditional sterile male release method because radiation is not necessary.