Anti-predator strategies of the invasive African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, to native and invasive predators in western France
Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Regional Euro-Asian Biological Invasions Centre
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: When species are translocated to a novel environment, individuals become exposed
to new predators against which they may not express very efficient defences at least
at an initial stage. The strength of anti-predator defence is an important parameter
that may determine the ability of local communities to control the expansion of
invasive populations. The African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, is a globally invasive
amphibian that has successfully established invasive populations on four continents.
In its invasive distribution in western France, X. laevis encounters novel aquatic
predators. Some may be related to the predators in the native range but others may
belong to different taxonomic groups and not be functionally or ecologically
equivalent. We tested whether naïve X. laevis tadpoles from the invasive French
population exhibit anti-predator response to local predators, and whether the
response depends on the degree of relatedness with predators encountered in the
native range of the frog, or whether individuals may express generic neophobia to
any cue they are not familiar with. We exposed naïve lab-reared tadpoles to a native
non-predatory water snail, Planorbarius corneus, a native predatory beetle, Dytiscus
dimidiatus, and an invasive predatory crayfish, Procambarus clarkii. We found that
X. laevis tadpoles innately reduce their activity when exposed to beetle and crayfish
stimulus cues, but not to snails. Reducing activity can decrease the probability of
being detected by predators. This demonstrates that invasive tadpoles respond to known
and novel predators regardless of the evolutionary history. Whether the produced
response is always effective against a totally novel predator remains to be tested.
Description
CITATION: Kruger, N., et al. 2019. Anti-predator strategies of the invasive African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, to native and invasive predators in western France. Aquatic Invasions, 14(3):1-11.
The original publication is available at http://www.aquaticinvasions.net
The original publication is available at http://www.aquaticinvasions.net
Keywords
Diving beetle, Xenopus laevis, Crayfish, Tadpoles
Citation
Kruger, N., et al. 2019. Anti-predator strategies of the invasive African clawed frog, Xenopus laevis, to native and invasive predators in western France. Aquatic Invasions, 14(3):1-11