Influence of predator-prey evolutionary history, chemical alarm-cues, and feeding selection on induction of toxin production in a marine dinoflagellate

2015 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 318-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina D. Senft-Batoh ◽  
Hans G. Dam ◽  
Sandra E. Shumway ◽  
Gary H. Wikfors ◽  
Carl D. Schlichting
Keyword(s):  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Toxin Production ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Marine Dinoflagellate ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues

scholarly journals Damsel in distress: captured damselfish prey emit chemical cues that attract secondary predators and improve escape chances

2015 ◽  
Vol 282 (1818) ◽  
pp. 20152038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oona M. Lönnstedt ◽  
Mark I. McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Field Studies ◽  
Selective Advantage ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fish Prey ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Marine Predator ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues ◽  
Prey Escape ◽  
Pomacentrus Moluccensis ◽  
Distress Vocalizations

In aquatic environments, many prey animals possess damage-released chemical alarm cues that elicit antipredator behaviours in responsive con- and heterospecifics. Despite considerable study, the selective advantage of alarm cues remains unclear. In an attempt to investigate one of the more promising hypotheses concerning the evolution of alarm cues, we examined whether the cue functions in a fashion analogous to the distress vocalizations emitted by many terrestrial animals. Our results suggest that chemical alarm cues in damselfish ( Pomacentridae ) may have evolved to benefit the cue sender by attracting secondary predators who disrupt the predation event, allowing the prey a greater chance to escape. The coral reef piscivore, the dusky dottyback ( Pseudochromis fuscus ), chemically eavesdrops on predation events and uses chemical alarm cues from fish prey (lemon damselfish; Pomacentrus moluccensis ) in an attempt to find and steal prey from primary predators. Field studies showed that Ps. fuscus aggregate at sites where prey alarm cue has been experimentally released. Furthermore, secondary predators attempted to steal captured prey of primary predators in laboratory trials and enhanced prey escape chances by 35–40%. These results are the first, to the best of our knowledge, to demonstrate a mechanism by which marine fish may benefit from the production and release of alarm cues, and highlight the complex and important role that semiochemicals play in marine predator–prey interactions.

Chemical ecology of predator–prey interactions in aquatic ecosystems: a review and prospectusThe present review is one in the special series of reviews on animal–plant interactions.

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (7) ◽  
pp. 698-724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maud C.O. Ferrari ◽  
Brian D. Wisenden ◽  
Douglas P. Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Mediated Learning ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Aquatic Communities ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Diet Cues ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues

The interaction between predator and prey is an evolutionary arms race, for which early detection by either party is often the key to success. In aquatic ecosystems, olfaction is an essential source of information for many prey and predators and a number of cues have been shown to play a key role in trait-mediated indirect interactions in aquatic communities. Here, we review the nature and role of predator kairomones, chemical alarm cues, disturbance cues, and diet cues on the behaviour, morphology, life history, and survival of aquatic prey, focusing primarily on the discoveries from the last decade. Many advances in the field have been accomplished: testing the survival value of those chemicals, providing field validation of laboratory results, understanding the extent to which chemically mediated learning may benefit the prey, understanding the role of these chemicals in mediating morphological and life-history adaptations, and most importantly, the selection pressures leading to the evolution of chemical alarm cues. Although considerable advances have been made, several key questions remain, the most urgent of which is to understand the chemistry behind these interactions.

scholarly journals Living in mixed species groups promotes predator learning in degraded habitats

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas P. Chivers ◽  
Mark I. McCormick ◽  
Eric P. Fakan ◽  
Randall P. Barry ◽  
Maud C. O. Ferrari
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues ◽  
Pomacentrus Amboinensis ◽  
Predator Foraging ◽  
Predator Learning ◽  
Predator Odour

AbstractLiving in mix-species aggregations provides animals with substantive anti-predator, foraging and locomotory advantages while simultaneously exposing them to costs, including increased competition and pathogen exposure. Given each species possess unique morphology, competitive ability, parasite vulnerability and predator defences, we can surmise that each species in mixed groups will experience a unique set of trade-offs. In addition to this unique balance, each species must also contend with anthropogenic changes, a relatively new, and rapidly increasing phenomenon, that adds further complexity to any system. This complex balance of biotic and abiotic factors is on full display in the exceptionally diverse, yet anthropogenically degraded, Great Barrier Reef of Australia. One such example within this intricate ecosystem is the inability of some damselfish to utilize their own chemical alarm cues within degraded habitats, leaving them exposed to increased predation risk. These cues, which are released when the skin is damaged, warn nearby individuals of increased predation risk and act as a crucial associative learning tool. Normally, a single exposure of alarm cues paired with an unknown predator odour facilitates learning of that new odour as dangerous. Here, we show that Ambon damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis, a species with impaired alarm responses in degraded habitats, failed to learn a novel predator odour as risky when associated with chemical alarm cues. However, in the same degraded habitats, the same species learned to recognize a novel predator as risky when the predator odour was paired with alarm cues of the closely related, and co-occurring, whitetail damselfish, Pomacentrus chrysurus. The importance of this learning opportunity was underscored in a survival experiment which demonstrated that fish in degraded habitats trained with heterospecific alarm cues, had higher survival than those we tried to train with conspecific alarm cues. From these data, we conclude that redundancy in learning mechanisms among prey guild members may lead to increased stability in rapidly changing environments.

Stress responses to chemical alarm cues in Nile tilapia

2015 ◽  
Vol 149 ◽  
pp. 8-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fábio Henrique Carretero Sanches ◽  
Caio Akira Miyai ◽  
Cândido Ferreira Pinho-Neto ◽  
Rodrigo Egydio Barreto
Keyword(s):  
Stress Responses ◽  
Nile Tilapia ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues
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