Predator-induced morphological traits determine escape performance in a larval amphibian species
4 affiliations
- 1Graduate School of Environmental Sciences, Hokkaido University 1 , Sapporo, Japan
- 2Graduate School of Information Science, University of Hyogo 3 , Kobe, Japan
- 3Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University 2 , Sapporo, Japan
- 4Wakayama Experimental Forest, Field Science Center for Northern Biosphere, Hokkaido University 4 , Wakayama, Japan
Abstract
Although interspecific morphological diversity in aquatic animals often reflects swimming-related functional trade-offs, whether intraspecific morphological variation, often generated by phenotypic plasticity, also reflects similar trade-offs remains unclear. We tested this hypothesis using Rana pirica tadpoles, which exhibit a dragonfly-induced phenotype with a deeper tail and a salamander-induced phenotype with both a deeper tail and a swollen body. Fast-start swimming speed was highest in the dragonfly-induced phenotype, intermediate in the salamander-induced phenotype and lowest in the non-induced phenotype. Because swimming speed is influenced by both morphology and body-motion effort, we quantified motion–speed efficiency (Ems) as an index of morphological effects on swimming performance. Both predator-induced phenotypes exhibited higher Ems than the non-induced phenotype, despite similar tail-motion quantity among phenotypes, with the highest value in the dragonfly-induced phenotype. These results indicate that the shared deeper tail more efficiently converts body-motion effort into swimming speed, whereas in the salamander-induced phenotype, this function is partly offset by increased hydrodynamic drag caused by its swollen body, a morphology that protects against swallowing by gape-limited salamander larvae. These results demonstrate that predator-induced morphologies involve functional trade-offs between swimming escape and physical protection and suggest that such trade-offs contribute to morphological diversification through phenotypic plasticity.
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BibTeX
@article{matsuura2026predatorinduced,
title = {{Predator-induced morphological traits determine escape performance in a larval amphibian species}},
author = {Naru Matsuura and Raj R. Malinda and Shin Fukuda and Hiroaki Kawashima and Osamu Kishida},
journal = {Royal Society Open Science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1098/rsos.260411},
url = {https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/260411/483632/Predator-induced-morphological-traits-determine},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Predator-induced morphological traits determine escape performance in a larval amphibian species
AU - Naru Matsuura
AU - Raj R. Malinda
AU - Shin Fukuda
AU - Hiroaki Kawashima
AU - Osamu Kishida
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Royal Society Open Science
DO - 10.1098/rsos.260411
UR - https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/article/13/10/260411/483632/Predator-induced-morphological-traits-determine
AB - Although interspecific morphological diversity in aquatic animals often reflects swimming-related functional trade-offs, whether intraspecific morphological variation, often generated by phenotypic plasticity, also reflects similar trade-offs remains unclear. We tested this hypothesis using Rana pirica tadpoles, which exhibit a dragonfly-induced phenotype with a deeper tail and a salamander-induced phenotype with both a deeper tail and a swollen body. Fast-start swimming speed was highest in the dragonfly-induced phenotype, intermediate in the salamander-induced phenotype and lowest in the non-induced phenotype. Because swimming speed is influenced by both morphology and body-motion effort, we quantified motion–speed efficiency (Ems) as an index of morphological effects on swimming performance. Both predator-induced phenotypes exhibited higher Ems than the non-induced phenotype, despite similar tail-motion quantity among phenotypes, with the highest value in the dragonfly-induced phenotype. These results indicate that the shared deeper tail more efficiently converts body-motion effort into swimming speed, whereas in the salamander-induced phenotype, this function is partly offset by increased hydrodynamic drag caused by its swollen body, a morphology that protects against swallowing by gape-limited salamander larvae. These results demonstrate that predator-induced morphologies involve functional trade-offs between swimming escape and physical protection and suggest that such trade-offs contribute to morphological diversification through phenotypic plasticity.
SN - 2054-5703
ER -