Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System
1
Venom Evolution Lab, School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia
2
Department of Life Sciences, the Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Toxins 2019, 11(2), 60; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11020060
Received: 14 December 2018 / Revised: 14 January 2019 / Accepted: 18 January 2019 / Published: 22 January 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evolutionary Ecology of Venom)
Research on venomous animals has mainly focused on the molecular, biochemical, and pharmacological aspects of venom toxins. However, it is the relatively neglected broader study of evolutionary ecology that is crucial for understanding the biological relevance of venom systems. As fish have convergently evolved venom systems multiple times, it makes them ideal organisms to investigate the evolutionary ecology of venom on a broader scale. This review outlines what is known about how fish venom systems evolved as a result of natural enemy interactions and about the ecological consequences of evolving a venom system. This review will show how research on the evolutionary ecology of venom in fish can aid in understanding the evolutionary ecology of animal venoms more generally. Further, understanding these broad ecological questions can shed more light on the other areas of toxinology, with applications across multiple disciplinary fields.
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Keywords:
evolution; ecology; fish; venom; evolutionary ecology; coevolution; natural enemy interactions; ecological niche; aposematism; mimicry
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MDPI and ACS Style
Harris, R.J.; Jenner, R.A. Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System. Toxins 2019, 11, 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11020060
AMA Style
Harris RJ, Jenner RA. Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System. Toxins. 2019; 11(2):60. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11020060
Chicago/Turabian StyleHarris, Richard J.; Jenner, Ronald A. 2019. "Evolutionary Ecology of Fish Venom: Adaptations and Consequences of Evolving a Venom System" Toxins 11, no. 2: 60. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins11020060
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