Predator or prey? The dive response to aerial and aquatic predators of Arafura filesnakes

2009 ◽  
Vol 57 (6) ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirstin L. Pratt ◽  
Craig E. Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Dive Duration ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Antipredatory Response ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Acrochordus Arafurae ◽  
Increased Activity

In air-breathing aquatic animals, predation is a strong selection pressure that may be reduced by modification to diving patterns. The risk of predation increases with time spent at the surface, thus shorter, more frequent surfacing events or longer, less frequent surfacing events would decrease predation risk. A reduction in time spent on the surface can be achieved by use of bimodal respiration, which is an ability to extend dive duration using dissolved oxygen to supplement aerially acquired oxygen. Air is a more efficient respiratory medium; however, under predation pressure, the cost of surfacing increases and the reliance on aquatic gas exchange should therefore increase. We tested whether the bimodally respiring filesnake (Acrochordus arafurae) changed its diving behaviour under simulated aerial (model bird) and aquatic (large fish) predation. Aerial predation did not alter dive or surface duration, percentage time surfacing or activity. However, a greater number of longer dives were observed with fewer long surface intervals, suggesting an increase in the use of aquatic gas exchange. The diel diving patterns (short night dives, long day dives) may provide an in-built antipredatory response to aerial predation. The threat of aquatic predation produced atypical antipredator behaviour, with longer surface intervals, shorter dives and increased activity, indicating that piscivorous filesnakes may have identified the predatory fish as prey rather than a predator.

Environmental and ecological factors influencing dive behaviour in the freshwater snake Acrochordus arafurae: a field-based telemetric study

2010 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 560 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirstin L. Pratt ◽  
Hamish A. Campbell ◽  
Matthew E. Watts ◽  
Craig E. Franklin
Keyword(s):  
Time Allocation ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Dive Depth ◽  
Dive Duration ◽  
The Body ◽  
Dive Behaviour ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Acrochordus Arafurae

Acrochordus arafurae is a fully aquatic, freshwater snake distributed throughout tropical Australia. To better understand the ecological factors influencing their behavioural repertoire, we remotely monitored field body temperature and diving in snakes free-ranging within their natural habitat. The body temperatures of A. arafurae exhibited a diel profile similar to the surface water temperature, and reflected the high proportion of time that snakes remained <1 m from the surface. The average dive depth was 0.62 m and 95% of dives had an average depth of 1 m or less. Snakes occasionally ventured into deeper water (>6 m), and there was a positive correlation between dive depth and duration. Average dive duration was 6.6 min and 84% of dives were terminated within 10 min, but all snakes performed dives >50 min during the 14-day observation period. We hypothesise that the dive behaviour was strongly influenced by predation pressure. The snakes partake in short dives within the aerobic dive limit to reduce the amount of time they need to spend at the surface on each breathing bout, reducing the risk of predation by birds. Predation is a strong selective force that might alter the time allocation during dive cycles.

Responses of Golden Shiner Minnows to Chemical Cues from Snake Predators

Behaviour ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 135 (8) ◽  
pp. 1213-1228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renée Godard ◽  
Catherine Wannamaker ◽  
Bonnie Bowers
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Alarm Substance ◽  
Distilled Water ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Nerodia Sipedon ◽  
Golden Shiners ◽  
Response To Water ◽  
Snake Predators

AbstractStudies of a limited number of species of fish in the superorder Ostariophysi have shown they they exhibit strong antipredator behaviour to conserved alarm substance in feces and in other byproducts from predatory fish that have consumed ostariophysans. Our experiments examined the ability of a previously untested ostariophysan to recognize chemical cues from two species of snake predators. In Experiment 1, shoals of golden shiners (Notemigonus chrysoleucas) exhibited strong shelter-seeking responses to water which contained waste byproducts from either a sympatric snake or an allopatric snake which had been fed golden shiners but not to a distilled water control. There was no difference in response to the sympatrie snake predator, northern water snakes (Nerodia sipedon), compared to the allopatric snake predator, black-bellied garter snakes (Thamnophis melanogaster). In Experiment 2, individual shiners exhibited vigourous dashing when presented with water which contained waste byproducts from N. sipedon fed golden shiners but exhibited a much weaker response to water which contained waste byproducts from N. sipedon fed green swordtails (Xiphophorus helleri, a non-ostariophysan) or to a water control. These results suggest that the alarm substance produced in the epidermis of the golden shiners is conserved in snake waste byproducts. Experiment 3 showed that there was little difference in shelter-seeking behaviour by shoals of shiners when presented with water in which N. sipedon had soaked, water in which T. melanogaster had soaked, or a distilled water control. Thus it appears that secretions from the skin of these predators may not be chemically labelled.

Metabolic rates of freely diving Weddell seals: correlations with oxygen stores, swim velocity and diving duration

1992 ◽  
Vol 165 (1) ◽  
pp. 181-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Castellini ◽  
G. L. Kooyman ◽  
P. J. Ponganis
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
Dive Duration ◽  
Metabolic Rates ◽  
Theoretical Limit ◽  
Weddell Seals ◽  
Consumption Values ◽  
Aerobic Dive Limit ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
On Line ◽  
The Cost

The metabolic rates of freely diving Weddell seals were measured using modern methods of on-line computer analysis coupled to oxygen consumption instrumentation. Oxygen consumption values were collected during sleep, resting periods while awake and during diving periods with the seals breathing at the surface of the water in an experimental sea-ice hole in Antarctica. Oxygen consumption during diving was not elevated over resting values but was statistically about 1.5 times greater than sleeping values. The metabolic rate of diving declined with increasing dive duration, but there was no significant difference between resting rates and rates in dives lasting up to 82 min. Swimming speed, measured with a microprocessor velocity recorder, was constant in each animal. Calculations of the aerobic dive limit of these seals were made from the oxygen consumption values and demonstrated that most dives were within this theoretical limit. The results indicate that the cost of diving is remarkably low in Weddell seals relative to other diving mammals and birds.

Antipredatory behaviour of a mountain lizard towards the chemical cues of its predatory snakes

Behaviour ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 155 (10-12) ◽  
pp. 817-840 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaida Ortega ◽  
Abraham Mencía ◽  
Valentín Pérez-Mellado
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Slow Motion ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Behavioural Pattern ◽  
Potential Predator ◽  
Snake Species ◽  
Antipredatory Behaviour ◽  
Antipredatory Response ◽  
Natrix Maura ◽  
Coronella Austriaca

Abstract The ability to early detect a potential predator is essential for survival. The potential of Iberolacerta cyreni lizards to discriminate between chemical cues of their two predatory snakes Coronella austriaca (a non-venomous active-hunter saurophagous specialist) and Vipera latastei (a venomous sit-and-wait generalist) was evaluated herein. A third snake species, Natrix maura, which does not prey on lizards, was used as a pungent control. Thus, the behaviour of I. cyreni was studied regarding four treatments: (1) C. austriaca scent, (2) V. latastei scent, (3) N. maura scent and (4) odourless control. Lizards showed antipredator behaviour (such as slow-motion and tail waving) to C. austriaca and V. latastei chemicals. The antipredatory response was similar for both predators. This ability to react with an intensive behavioural pattern to the chemical cues of their predatory snakes may prevent lizards from being detected, and, if detected, dissuade the predator from beginning a pursuit.

Hiding time of the hermit crab Calcinus californiensis: observations from different shell types

2015 ◽  
Vol 93 (7) ◽  
pp. 559-565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Enrique Chávez-Solís ◽  
Guillermina Alcaraz
Keyword(s):  
Water Column ◽  
Potential Risk ◽  
Hermit Crab ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Resource Value ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Potential Risks ◽  
Time Required ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Return To Activity

Hermit crabs respond to predators by hiding in their shells. However, retraction may cause the crab to lose hold of the rock and fall through the water column, and the crab may land with the shell aperture in a different orientation. When the shell is aperture down, hermit crabs return to activity by moving their bodies forward and placing their legs on the ground. In contrast, when the shell is aperture up, crabs need to perform a righting maneuver by extending part of their bodies out of the shell, which makes them more vulnerable to predation. The main goal of this study was to examine the hiding time of the hermit crab Calcinus californiensis Bouvier, 1898 in different shell species under these two different situations to better understand the conflict between the cost of staying in hiding and the risk of predation. The study was conducted in rocky tide pools using seven different shell types that reflect different predator protection and resource value to the crab (based on previous studies). We measured the time required to perform the righting maneuver as a measure of the potential risk incurred when returning to activity. The hiding time with the shell aperture down was not affected by shell species. The requirement to carry out a righting maneuver lengthened the hiding time, which varied in the different shell species according to the time required to recover the natural position. The potential risks associated with the righting time, the protection offered by the shells, and the resource value played an important role in the hiding time of the crabs using different shells. This study shows that hermit crabs are aware of the attributes of the shell and use this information to make decisions about how long to stay hidden after being threatened.

Flight initiation distance is differentially sensitive to the costs of staying and leaving food patches in a small-mammal prey

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 1016-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricio A. Lagos ◽  
Andrea Meier ◽  
Liliana Ortiz Tolhuysen ◽  
Rodrigo A. Castro ◽  
Francisco Bozinovic ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammal ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Flight Initiation Distance ◽  
Food Patch ◽  
Supplementary Food ◽  
Escape Theory ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Flight Initiation

Escape theory predicts that a prey should flee from an approaching predator at a point in which the cost of staying equals the cost of escape. We manipulated the cost of fleeing upon approaching human predators by providing the small mammal Octodon degus (Molina, 1782) with varying amounts of supplementary food likely to disappear while the animals are not in the food patch (e.g., hidden in their burrows). Simultaneously, we manipulated the risk of remaining in the patch by providing supplementary food at varying distances from the nearest burrow. Degus fled at a shorter distance to approaching predators when foraging in patches closer to the nearest burrow and supplied with relatively high abundance of food, but only when these rodents were foraging socially. Also, degus fled at a greater distance to approaching predators when foraging in patches far from the nearest burrow. Thus, functions linked to the loss of feeding opportunities and the risk of predation interact to influence flight initiation distance after a simulated attack. This study represented one of the few demonstrations of an interactive effect between cost and risks on antipredator behavior in a small, social prey mammal.

scholarly journals Familiarity and shoal cohesion in fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas): implications for antipredator behaviour

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (5) ◽  
pp. 955-960 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas P. Chivers ◽  
Grant E. Brown ◽  
R. Jan F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Northern Pike ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Fish Predator ◽  
Antipredator Response ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Model Fish

We exposed groups of four fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) that were familiar to each other and had been taken from naturally occurring shoals, and groups of four fish unfamiliar to each other, taken from four separate shoals, to either chemical stimuli from pike or a model fish predator (northern pike, Esox lucius). In response to both chemical stimuli from pike and the pike model, minnows from familiar groups showed greater shoal cohesion than those from unfamiliar groups. Tighter shoal cohesion should result in a higher probability of surviving an encounter with a predator. Fish in familiar shoals also exhibited more dashing, a known antipredator response, than those in unfamiliar groups. In addition, groups of familiar fish showed less freezing behaviour than unfamiliar groups. In response to the model fish predator, familiar shoals exhibited a greater number of predator inspections, and the number of inspectors per inspection visit was greater, than those in unfamiliar groups. These results suggest that preferential shoaling with familiar conspecifics leads to an increase in cooperative antipredator behaviour and may thereby lower a minnow's risk of predation.

Can fisheries yield be enhanced by large-scale feeding of a predatory fish stock? A case study of the Icelandic cod stock

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (10) ◽  
pp. 2091-2104 ◽  
Author(s):  
Björn Björnsson
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Gadus Morhua ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Prey Abundance ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Fish Stock ◽  
Feeding Technique ◽  
Predator Abundance ◽  
The Cost

The concept of large-scale feeding of a predatory fish stock by natural prey species is introduced and evaluated for the Icelandic cod (Gadus morhua L.) stock. The paper addresses the question of whether fisheries yield can be enhanced by relocating food supply in an ecosystem from areas of surplus prey abundance to areas where predator abundance is high and prey abundance low. The benefits of large-scale feeding may be threefold. First, it may increase the growth rate and yield of a predatory fish stock. Second, it may reduce predation on valuable species. Third, it may lower the cost of fishing. For large-scale feeding to be economically feasible it is necessary to have access to large quantities of inexpensive and high-quality feed. In Iceland about 1 000 000 t of capelin, herring, and blue whiting are landed annually for fishmeal production, their price being less than 10% of that of cod. For much of the year these stocks are outside the distributional area of the Icelandic cod stock. The most cost-effective feeding technique must involve purse seiners and pelagic trawlers transporting their catch directly to the feeding locations. Different feeding scenarios, harvesting techniques, and ecological consequences are considered for the Icelandic cod stock.

High feeding costs limit dive time in the largest whales

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (12) ◽  
pp. 1747-1753 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Acevedo-Gutiérrez ◽  
D. A. Croll ◽  
B. R. Tershy
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Dive Duration ◽  
Fin Whale ◽  
Small Areas ◽  
Feeding Costs ◽  
Fin Whales ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Blue Whales ◽  
Optimality Models ◽  
Lunge Feeding

SUMMARY Large body size usually extends dive duration in air-breathing vertebrates. However, the two largest predators on earth, the blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) and the fin whale (B. physalus), perform short dives for their size. Here, we test the hypothesis that the foraging behavior of these two species (lunge-feeding) is energetically expensive and limits their dive duration. We estimated the cost of lunge-feeding in both species using an approach that combined attaching time/depth recorders to seven blue whales and eight fin whales and comparing the collected dive information with predictions made by optimality models of dive behavior. We show that the rate at which whales recovered from a foraging dive was twice that of a non-foraging dive and that the cost of foraging relative to the cost of travel to and from the prey patch was 3.15 in blue whales (95 % CI 2.58-3.72) and 3.60 in fin whales(95 % CI 2.35-4.85). Whales foraged in small areas (&lt;1 km2) and foraging bouts lasted more than one dive, indicating that prey did not disperse and thus that prey dispersal could not account for the limited dive durations of the whales. Despite the enormous size of blue whales and fin whales, the high energetic costs of lunge-feeding confine them to short durations of submergence and to areas with dense prey aggregations. As a corollary, because of their limited foraging time under water, these whales may be particularly vulnerable to perturbations in prey abundance.

Role of Predatory Fish in Community Dynamics of an Ephemeral Stream

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (11) ◽  
pp. 2322-2330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Holomuzki ◽  
R. Jan Stevenson
Keyword(s):  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Functional Feeding Groups ◽  
Ephemeral Stream ◽  
Surface Exchange ◽  
Invertebrate Predators

In enclosed runs in a third-order ephemeral stream in west-central Kentucky, the effects of predatory sunfish (Lepomis) on benthic macroinvertebrates, benthic algae, and detritivory were compared (1) before stream intermittence, (2) after stream intermittence when transport was restricted, and (3) between substrata offering differential cover from fish predation. Ambient fish densities had little effect on total macrobenthic densities and processes on lower trophic levels before intermittence. Fish modestly affected macroinvertebrate densities after intermittence, when surface exchange of prey was interrupted by sections of dry stream. Among substrata, fish influenced macroinvertebrates on bedrock, but not on stony, coarse substrata. Densities of two taxa were significantly affected by fish, and this significantly altered the relative abundance of functional feeding groups in enclosures on bedrock by increasing the proportion of invertebrate predators in fish treatments. Macroinvertebrate densities in microhabitats on both substrata were not affected by fish presence. Dense growths of the stalked diatom Cymbella generally covered microhabitats and added structural complexity, particularly to bedrock surfaces. Unobstructed, natural migration of prey in the large (40 m2) fencelike enclosures (versus containers), ample refuge space, and low natural densities of fish were important in minimizing fish effects in enclosures.

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