DOI: 10.5061/dryad.b2d29
title: Data from: Plastic hatching timing by red-eyed treefrog embryos interacts with larval predator identity and sublethal predation to affect prey morphology but not performance

description: Many animals respond to predation risk by altering their morphology,
 behavior, or life-history. We know a great deal about the cues prey
 respond to and the changes to prey that can be induced by predation risk,
 but less is known about how plastic responses to predators may be affected
 by separate plastic responses occurring earlier in life, particularly
 during the embryonic period. Embryos of a broad array of taxa can respond
 to egg- or larval-stage risks by altering hatching timing, which may alter
 the way organisms respond to future predators. Using the red-eyed treefrog
 (Agalychnis callidryas), a model for understanding the effects of
 plasticity across life-stages, we assessed how the combined effects of
 induced variation in the timing of embryo hatching and variation in the
 larval predator community impacted tadpole morphology, pigmentation and
 swimming performance. We found that A. callidryas tadpoles developed
 deeper tail muscles and fins and darker pigmentation in response to fish
 predators, either when alone or in diverse community with other predators.
 Tadpoles altered morphology much less so to dragonfly naiads or water
 bugs. Interestingly, morphological responses to predators were also
 affected by induced differences in hatching age, with early and
 late-hatched tadpoles exhibiting different allometric relationships
 between tail height and body length in different predator environments.
 Beyond induced morphological changes, fish predators often damaged
 tadpoles’ tails without killing them (i.e., sublethal predation), but
 these tadpoles swam equally quickly to those with fully intact tails. This
 was due to the fact that tadpoles with more damaged tails increased tail
 beats to achieve equal swimming speed. This study demonstrates that
 plastic phenotypic responses to predation risk can be influenced by a
 complex combination of responses to both the embryo and larval
 environments, but also that prey performance can be highly resilient to
 sublethal predation.
description: Tadpole
 morphologyMorphological
 measurements of Agalychnis callidryas tadpoles reared in one of 5 predator
 treatments in Gamboa, Panama. Column headings are: Block of experiment,
 Tank tadpoles came from, Predator treatment, Hatching age treatment,
 Individual tadpole from each tank, Body length, Total tadpole length, Tail
 muscle height, Tail fin height, Body height, Max body height, and Body
 area.Tadpole
 swimmingAgalychnis callidryas
 swimming performance after being raised with different predators in
 Gamboa, Panama. Column headings are: Distance tadpole swam (cm), Number of
 tadpole, Number of swims (values may be averages of multiple swims),
 Number of frames swam, Number of tailbeats used, Rate of tailbeats per
 second, Speed of tadpoles (cm traveled/second), Total amount of time
 swimming, Number of tailbeats used per cm traveled, Predator treatment,
 Hatching age treatment, Block of experiment, Tank of
 experiment.