scholarly journals Cross-population responses to conspecific chemical alarm cues in wild Trinidadian guppies, Poecilia reticulata: evidence for local conservation of cue production

2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant E. Brown ◽  
Chris K. Elvidge ◽  
Camille J. Macnaughton ◽  
Indar Ramnarine ◽  
Jean-Guy J. Godin
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Local Conservation ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Isolated Populations ◽  
Fish Predator ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues ◽  
Intensity Response ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Predator Model

Within freshwater fishes, closely related species produce alarm cues that are chemically similar, leading to conserved antipredator responses. Similar conservation trends are predicted for species with geographically isolated populations. Here, we tested this hypothesis with the guppy ( Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859) from two populations within the Aripo River, Trinidad. Free-ranging guppies in the Lower Aripo (high-predation population) exhibited more risk-aversive inspection behaviour towards a fish predator model paired with the alarm cues of guppies collected from the same population versus a river water control. In comparison, when paired with the alarm cues of guppies from the Upper Aripo (low-predation population), the response was intermediate. In the laboratory, we tested Upper and Lower Aripo guppies to the alarm cues of the same or different Aripo River donors, Quaré River guppies (a high-predation population from a different drainage), or a water control. Both Upper and Lower Aripo River guppies exhibited the highest intensity response to donors from the same population and the lowest intensity response to Quaré River donors, with the response to different Aripo donors being intermediate. Collectively, these results demonstrate a trend of intraspecific conservation of chemical alarm cue production, leading to population-specific responses to conspecific cues.

Quality or quantity? the role of donor condition in the production of chemical alarm cues in juvenile convict cichlids

Behaviour ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 141 (10) ◽  
pp. 1235-1248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reehan Mirza ◽  
Grant Brown ◽  
Ellie Roh
Keyword(s):  
Threshold Concentration ◽  
Response Threshold ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Antipredator Response ◽  
Condition Versus ◽  
Convict Cichlids ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues ◽  
High Condition

AbstractMuch study has been devoted to the function of chemical alarm cues in predator-prey relationships in aquatic environments, but little is known about the production of these valuable sources of chemosensory information. Recent studies have demonstrated that donor (cue sender) condition may play an important role in the production of chemical alarm cues in juvenile convict cichlids (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus). In laboratory experiments, we conducted trials to test for the effect of donor body condition on the minimum behavioural response threshold and/or intensity of antipredator response to conspecific chemical alarm cues. Chemical alarm cue donors were sampled from high or low condition populations. Pairs of juvenile cichlids were exposed to the skin extracts of high condition versus low condition donors, across a range of relative concentrations (200, 100, 50, 25, and 12.5%), and a distilled water control. We found that cichlids exhibited overt antipredator behaviour beginning at a concentration of 25% for the high condition cue, while a minimum response threshold concentration of 50% was seen for low condition cue. The intensity of antipredator response was greater following exposure to the alarm cues of high condition stimulus versus low condition donors. Taken together, these findings suggest that the damage-released chemical alarm cues from high condition donors are qualitatively and quantitatively greater than those of low condition donors.

The Effects of Predator Exposure On the Female Choice of Guppies (Poecilia Reticulata) From a High-Predation Population

Behaviour ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 134 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anson Gong
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Female Preference ◽  
Captive Population ◽  
Fish Predator ◽  
Sexual Preferences ◽  
Visual Exposure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Natural Predator ◽  
High Predation

AbstractStudies have shown that, under intense predation, guppy (Poecilia reticulata) populations have evolved duller male colouration and weaker female preference for brightly coloured males. Gong & Gibson (1996) found that females descended from a low-predation population responded to the presence of a fish predator by becoming less receptive and reversing their typical sexual preference for the brighter and more active of a pair of males. Here, I investigated whether this response is more strongly developed in guppies descended from a captive population exposed to predation from a natural predator. I measured the social and sexual preferences of virgin females for a pair of males both before and after visual exposure to a predatory cichlid in an adjacent tank. Females initially preferred the more actively displaying male. Exposure to the cichlid caused some females to become unreceptive and the remainder avoided the previously preferred male. These effects did not differ in magnitude from the responses of females descended from a low-predation population (Gong & Gibson, 1996). The avoidance of conspicuous males by females seems to be a generalized response to predation risk that is independent of current predation pressure on a population.

Behavioural response of larval sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) in a laboratory environment to potential damage-released chemical alarm cues

2014 ◽  
Vol 92 (5) ◽  
pp. 443-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Perrault ◽  
I. Imre ◽  
G.E. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Petromyzon Marinus ◽  
Sea Lamprey ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Swimming Time ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues ◽  
Xiphophorus Hellerii ◽  
Sea Lampreys ◽  
Rate Of Escape

Sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus L., 1758) invaded the Great Lakes early in the 20th century and have caused economic and ecological damage to native fish species. The integrated sea lamprey control program involves low-head barrier dams, lampricides, and trapping. The search for low cost and less toxic alternatives to lampricides could involve the use of repellents in the form of chemical alarm cues. The objective of this study was to determine whether larval sea lamprey showed a behavioural response when exposed to damage-released chemical alarm cues by increasing their swimming time, rate of direction changes, or rate of escape attempts in an artificial stream channel experiment. Larval sea lampreys were exposed to conspecific larval sea lamprey extract, heterospecific swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii Heckel, 1848) extract, or a distilled water control. The larvae increased their rate of escape attempts after exposure to both swordtail and larval lamprey extracts and their rate of direction changes after exposure to sea lamprey extract. However, larvae did not increase their swimming time in response to any experimental stimuli. This is the first study to suggest that larval sea lamprey respond to potential chemosensory risk assessment cues.

Active space of chemical alarm cue in natural fish populations

Behaviour ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 391-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Wisenden
Keyword(s):  
Skin Extract ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Water Control ◽  
Active Space ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cue ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Predator Attack ◽  
Water Traps ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues

AbstractChemical cues released from injured fish skin during a predator attack provide reliable information about the presence of predation risk. Here, I report estimates of the area avoided by littoral fishes after experimental release of chemical alarm cues in two small lakes in northern Minnesota. Minnow traps were labeled chemically with either water (control) or skin extract (chemical alarm cue) made from 2 cm2 of cyprinid skin (redbelly dace in experiment 1, fathead minnows in experiment 2). Traps labeled with water were placed 1, 2, or 8 m from traps labeled with alarm cue. After 2 h, water-traps that were either 1 or 2 m distant from an alarm-trap caught significantly fewer fish than water-traps 8 m distant from alarm-traps. Conspecific and heterospecific skin extract produced similar area avoidance by fathead minnows. Redbelly dace showed a larger active space in response to conspecific than heterospecific alarm cues. Brook stickleback showed reduced catches within 2 m of skin extract of fathead minnows. Overall, the radius of active space was between 2 and 8 m under lake conditions with average subsurface currents of 0.82 cm/s. These data are the first field estimates of active space of ostariophysan chemical alarm cues.

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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