According to scientist, they have discovered tropical fish can control their gut microbes allowing them to to have higher survival rates in extreme temperatures both cold and hot. Host microbe interactions can play an important role in the fitness of the host, demonstrating the concept of hologenome - in which an organism is not based as an individual but as a community. When analyzing the results of the tropical fish study, scientist noticed that the fish tend to select microbes that were more tolerant to the cold themselves which I found very interesting and also demonstrative of the idea of hologenome.
References:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181120125843.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290017/
There would be no doubt to me that something like this must exist in fish species as it is much easier to migrate in the oceans due to the ease of access and currents to assist but what happens if a tropical fish goes to far north or south? There must be some sort of mechanism inside the fish that protects it from straying to far from its intended habitat so they can try and return home.
ReplyDelete