RETRACTED ARTICLE: Novel life history strategy in a deep sea fish challengesassumptions about reproduction in extreme environments

The deep ocean is frequently assumed to be a homogeneous system lacking the same diverse life history strategies found in shallower waters. However, as our methods for exploring the deep ocean improve, common assumptions about dispersal, reproduction and behavior are constantly being challenged. Fis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1
Main Authors Singer, Randal A, Moore, Jon A, Stanley, Edward L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group 01.01.2020
Subjects
Deep sea
Dispersal
Eggs
Life history
Oral cavity
Reproductive strategy
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Summary:The deep ocean is frequently assumed to be a homogeneous system lacking the same diverse life history strategies found in shallower waters. However, as our methods for exploring the deep ocean improve, common assumptions about dispersal, reproduction and behavior are constantly being challenged. Fishes exhibit the most diverse reproductive strategies among vertebrates. Understanding life history strategies in deep-sea environments is lacking for many species of fishes. Here, we report a novel reproductive strategy where a fish (Parazen pacificus) provides parental care via mouth brooding. This behavior is observed from a specimen collected with eggs present in the buccal cavity, along with other specimens exhibiting pre-brooding morphologies. This is the first description of this unique life history trait in a deep-sea fish and fills in a gap in the larval literature for this family of fishes and prompts further investigation into other novel reproductive modes of deep-sea fauna.
ISSN:2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-020-60534-0