Feeding behaviour of predatory larvae of Atherix lantha Webb (Diptera: Athericidae)

1994 ◽  
Vol 72 (10) ◽  
pp. 1695-1699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona F. Hunter ◽  
Astrid K. Maier
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Prey Type ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Predator Size ◽  
Oxygenated Water

Larvae of Atherix lantha Webb (Diptera: Athericidae) are piercing – sucking predators. Predator–prey experiments were conducted in beakers containing gravel substrates and airstone-oxygenated water. The predator:prey ratio used in all experiments was 5:5. One prey type was tested at a time. Prey tested included large and small heptageniid mayflies, hyalellid amphipods, and hydropsychid caddisflies. The effect of predator size was examined using two size classes of A. lantha larvae. Large A. lantha consumed more mayflies than did small A. lantha. However, amphipod mortality was the same with large as with small A. lantha. The effect of prey size on predation success was tested using two size classes of mayflies. Statistically, small A. lantha fed on equal numbers of small and large mayflies, whereas large A. lantha consumed more large than small mayflies. Data for species-wise comparisons are only available for small A. lantha; according to our results, hydropsychid caddisflies (average mortality (m) = 0.5346) are more vulnerable to predation than are hyalellid amphipods (m = 0.2041) and heptageniid mayflies (m = 0.1135–0.1813). However, the mortality of large mayflies caused by large A. lantha larvae (m = 0.5375) is the same as that of caddisflies caused by small A. lantha larvae. Thus, the vulnerability of prey species depends, in part, on predator size.

scholarly journals Evolution in interacting species alters predator life-history traits, behaviour and morphology in experimental microbial communities

2020 ◽  
Vol 287 (1928) ◽  
pp. 20200652
Author(s):  
Johannes Cairns ◽  
Felix Moerman ◽  
Emanuel A. Fronhofer ◽  
Florian Altermatt ◽  
Teppo Hiltunen
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Prey Type ◽  
Automated Image Analysis ◽  
Foraging Efficiency ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Evolving Systems ◽  
Interacting Species ◽  
Evolutionary Response

Predator–prey interactions heavily influence the dynamics of many ecosystems. An increasing body of evidence suggests that rapid evolution and coevolution can alter these interactions, with important ecological implications, by acting on traits determining fitness, including reproduction, anti-predatory defence and foraging efficiency. However, most studies to date have focused only on evolution in the prey species, and the predator traits in (co)evolving systems remain poorly understood. Here, we investigated changes in predator traits after approximately 600 generations in a predator–prey (ciliate–bacteria) evolutionary experiment. Predators independently evolved on seven different prey species, allowing generalization of the predator's evolutionary response. We used highly resolved automated image analysis to quantify changes in predator life history, morphology and behaviour. Consistent with previous studies, we found that prey evolution impaired growth of the predator, although the effect depended on the prey species. By contrast, predator evolution did not cause a clear increase in predator growth when feeding on ancestral prey. However, predator evolution affected morphology and behaviour, increasing size, speed and directionality of movement, which have all been linked to higher prey search efficiency. These results show that in (co)evolving systems, predator adaptation can occur in traits relevant to foraging efficiency without translating into an increased ability of the predator to grow on the ancestral prey type.

Ontogenetic niche feeding partitioning in juvenile of white sea catfish Genidens barbus in estuarine environments, southern Brazil

2008 ◽  
Vol 89 (4) ◽  
pp. 839-848 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manuel Mendoza-Carranza ◽  
João Paes Vieira
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
White Sea ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Age Distribution ◽  
Similarity Index ◽  
Large Fish ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Feeding Groups ◽  
Regression Quantile

Ontogenetic diet changes (prey species richness and size) in juveniles of white sea catfish (Genidens barbus) were tested in three southern Brazilian estuaries: Mampituba (29°12′S), Tramandaí (30°02′S), Chuí (33°44′S). Cluster analysis revealed that white sea catfish juvenile populations in the three estuaries are composed of two feeding groups. These two feeding groups are coincident with a bimodal size–age distribution of the juveniles of white sea catfish. In small catfish (5 to 10 cm TL) copepods were the most numerous prey (Chuí = 86.66%N, Tramandaí = 85.52%N and Mampituba = 52.34%N). In large catfish (10 to 20 cm TL) the most abundant and frequent prey was fish (Chuí: 73.19%N and 74.56%FO; Tramandaí: 85.92%N and 73.33%FO; Mampituba: 52.34%N and 61.54%FO). The Morisita overlap index among small and large fish was low in all estuaries; high values of Morisita's similarity index were observed among same size catfish groups. In all cases, no differences were observed among prey bio-volume curves of same size predator groups (small, F = 0.41, P = 0.65; large, F = 2.19, P = 0.11). In all estuaries, prey size increased significantly with increasing predator size. The 90th regression quantile estimated with most precision the predator–prey size relationship.

Do snakes exhibit shifts in feeding ecology associated with the presence or absence of potential competitors? A case study from tropical Africa

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Luiselli
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Ecology ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Prey Type ◽  
Swamp Forest ◽  
Southeastern Nigeria ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Predatory Behaviour ◽  
Ecological Requirements ◽  
Predator Size ◽  
Potential Competitor

Two species of rain-forest snakes, the colubrids Natriciteres fuliginoides and Natriciteres variegata, are potential competitors, because they attain, on average, the same body size (20–30 cm long), have similar habits and ecological requirements (they are both diurnal and nocturnal, often semi-aquatic), and have similar dietary spectra ( including both small vertebrates and invertebrates). I studied prey type and predator size – prey size relationships of these snakes in four swamp-forest areas of southeastern Nigeria (West Africa): only N. fuliginoides was found in two of these areas, whereas both species were common in the other two areas. The feeding ecology of N. fuliginoides shifted greatly in the presence of its potential competitor, N. variegata, in terms of prey-type preferences and predatory behaviour as well as in terms of predator size – prey size relationships. In particular, the effects of the potential competitor on the feeding ecology of N. fuliginoides were (i) a shift toward eating many invertebrates from a diet based on many small vertebrates, (ii) a shift toward eating many terrestrial organisms from a diet based on many aquatic organisms, and (iii) a shift in mean prey size for females toward relatively larger prey from a diet based on smaller prey. The resulting effect was a clear partitioning of food resources between the two predator species in both the areas where they are sympatric, whereas N. fuliginoides had a wider dietary spectrum (covering that of the two species together) in the areas where its competitor is not found. The role of intraspecific competition seems less strong, as no apparent resource partitioning in prey type or prey size was observed between males and females of either species or in any study area. However, mean prey size was significantly greater for females than for males of both species and in all study areas, but depended on the significant reverse sexual size dimorphism observed in both species.

Habitats, diets, and sympatry in snakes: a study from Australia

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (7) ◽  
pp. 1118-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Shine
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Competitive Exclusion ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Prey Type ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Potential Prey ◽  
Climatic Regions ◽  
Eastern Australia

Six species of elapid snakes were studied in a highlands region of eastern Australia. Major results were as follows. (1) These snakes are opportunistic feeders, relatively unselective with respect to prey type or prey size. (2) Despite this unselective feeding, over 60% of the diet (by weight) in all species consists of lizards and frogs. Published data show a preponderance of these prey types in Australian snakes as a whole, and I suggest that this is due to the scarcity of other potential prey items (especially small mammals and freshwater fish) in Australia. (3) Sympatry is less common in the elapids studied than among North American snakes in comparable climatic regions. I attribute the scarcity of sympatry among the Australian snakes to the restricted number of prey types available. This argument is supported by previous empirical work which suggests that prey species diversity determines snake species diversity. Observed prey-size differences between sympatric elapid species are consistent with the interpretation of interspecific competitive exclusion.

Predator–prey relationships and predation rates for crustacean zooplankters from some lakes in western Canada

1970 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 1229-1240 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Stewart Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Relative Size ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Potential Predator ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Predation Rates

Experimental studies on Diaptoimus shoshone, D. arcticus, D. nevadensis, Cyclops bicuspidatus thomasi, C. vernalis, and Branckinecta gigas show that these predatory species can capture and eat many prey species of various sizes. B. gigas probably combines raptorial with filter feeding and can eat 150 or more smaller crustaceans per day. Adult D. shoshone, D. arcticus, and D. nevadensis eat up to 12 or more cyclopoids or diaptomids per day. Rotifers are also preferred prey. Predation rates are inversely proportional to prey size. Cannibalism probably causes the uniformity in body size and instar of predaceous diaptomids in some populations, C. vernalis and C. b. thomasi can eat six or more prey animals daily, depending on the size of the prey. Predaceous diaptomids and cyclopoids will eat the same prey species at rates which are influenced more by hunger than by abundance of prey. Furthermore, each species is a potential predator on the other, where the role of predator or prey is determined by the relative size or instar of the two groups. Hence, codominance of the zooplankton by predaceous diaptomid and cyclopoid species is unlikely.

Effects of size, motility and paralysation time of prey on the quantity of venom injected by the hunting spider Cupiennius salei

1999 ◽  
Vol 202 (15) ◽  
pp. 2083-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Malli ◽  
L. Kuhn-Nentwig ◽  
H. Imboden ◽  
W. Nentwig
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Energetic Cost ◽  
Cupiennius Salei ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Minor Significance ◽  
Spider Cupiennius Salei ◽  
Hunting Spider ◽  
Behavioural Adaptations

Previous experimental studies have shown that neotropical wandering spiders (Cupiennius salei) inject more venom when attacking larger crickets. It has been postulated that this is a consequence of predator-prey interactions during envenomation, which increase in intensity with the size of a given prey species. The present study was designed to test this hypothesis using anaesthetized crickets of different sizes that were moved artificially. Cupiennius salei was found (1) to inject more venom the greater the intensity of the struggling movement of the crickets (prey size kept constant); (2) to inject more venom the longer the duration of the struggling movement of the crickets (prey size and intensity of movement kept constant); and (3) to inject equal amounts into crickets of different size (duration and intensity of movement kept constant). These results indicate that C. salei alters the amount of venom it releases according to the size and motility of its prey. Venom expenditure depends mainly on the extent of the interactions with the prey during the envenomation process, whereas prey size is of minor significance. The regulation of venom injection in concert with behavioural adaptations in response to various types of prey minimizes the energetic cost of venom production, thus increasing the profitability of a given prey item.

Predator size and prey size: presumed relationship in the mantid Hierodula coarctata Saussure

1976 ◽  
Vol 54 (10) ◽  
pp. 1760-1764 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Holling ◽  
R. L. Dunbrack ◽  
L. M. Dill
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Cube Root ◽  
Interspecific Relationship ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Mantis Shrimp ◽  
Predator Size ◽  
Size Relationship ◽  
Tibia Length

Measurements of tibia length and tibial hook angle were used to calculate optimum prey size in 714 specimens of the mantid Hierodula coarctata. These values were then regressed on the cube root of dry body weight to derive a presumed predator–prey size relationship for the species. Energetic arguments are advanced to account for the observed relationship. An interspecific relationship is also demonstrated for three species of mantids and two species of mantis shrimp (stomatopod crustaceans).

Prey preference and feeding behaviour of the diplogastrid predator Mononchoides gaugleri (Nematoda: Diplogastrida)

Nematology ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 333-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anwar Bilgrami ◽  
Randy Gaugler ◽  
Christopher Brey
Keyword(s):  
Feeding Behaviour ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Nematode Species ◽  
Prey Preference ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
The Third ◽  
Prey Preferences ◽  
Feeding Activities ◽  
Second Tier

AbstractPrey preference and feeding behaviour of Mononchoides gaugleri were studied using 11 phytoparasitic nematode species as prey. A full range of prey preferences were detected in no choice and paired choice predator-prey experiments. Meloidogyne incognita, Heterodera mothi and Anguina tritici juveniles (coefficient of preference = 0.92-1.00) were highly preferred as prey by M. gaugleri in all tests. The second tier of prey preference was occupied by the adult Hirschmanniella oryzae, Tylenchorhynchus mashhoodi, Xiphinema americanum and Paratrichodorus christiei (coefficient of preference = 0.19-0.67), and the third tier by Longidorus attenuatus and Helicotylenchus indicus (coefficient of preference = −0.15-−0.57). Hemicriconemoides mangiferae and Hoplolaimus indicus were not preyed upon. Mononchoides gaugleri attacked H. mothi and A. tritici (maximum strike rate (SR)= 92-94%), which has resulted in maximal prey wounding (encounters resulted in wounding (EW) = 46-47%). Longidorus attenuatus was attacked minimally (SR = 42%) with fewest casualties (EW = 21%). Hirschmanniella oryzae, H. mothi and M. incognita were most susceptible (prey susceptibility (PS) = 87.5-93.5%), whereas X. americanum and P. christiei were highly resistant prey species (prey resistance (PR) = 66.7-74.2%). Temperature and prey density governed predator feeding activities, with optimal search duration at 20-30°C and 150-225 prey. The shortest and longest feeding durations of Mononchoides gaugleri were recorded for M. incognita and L. attenuatus, respectively. Predation was density-dependent.

scholarly journals Hide and seek in the Bay of Biscay—a functional investigation of marine megafauna and small pelagic fish interactions

2018 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Lambert ◽  
Matthieu Authier ◽  
Mathieu Doray ◽  
Ghislain Dorémus ◽  
Jérome Spitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foraging Ecology ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Bottlenose Dolphins ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Fine Scale ◽  
Spatial Correlations ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Size Classes ◽  
Prey Biomass ◽  
Common Dolphins

AbstractPrey and predator distributions influence one another. Understanding the scale and the orientation of predator–prey spatial correlations is crucial in foraging ecology. Growing evidence suggests that predator–prey interactions are more constrained by functional characteristics of both the predator and the prey. Unfortunately, in marine pelagic systems, the scale and orientation of spatial correlations between predators and prey have been only little explored from a functional point of view. We tested the existence of fine-scale association between predators and fish functional groups. Visual predator sightings and acoustic fish records were collected synchronously during oceanographic surveys from 2004 to 2014. Prey biomass was integrated by nautical miles and split into four size classes (<10 cm; 10–20 cm; 20–30 cm; >30 cm) and two depth layers (surface, deep). We computed the relative biomass by prey size and depth category from 0 to 12 nm around predator sightings to determine the predators’ proximity to local prey biomass. Two cetaceans (common, bottlenose dolphins) and three seabirds (northern gannets, auks, northern fulmars) were studied. No association was found in fulmars, indicating they probably do not feed on considered fishes in the area. Gannets and auks were positively correlated with local prey biomass for sizes <20 cm at both depth layers. Significant negative relationships were found between common dolphins and prey size classes <20 cm at both depth layers, and between bottlenose dolphins and all size ranges at the deeper layer. Our results suggest that the fine-scale spatial overlap of predator and prey is influenced by their functional traits, and that prey exhibit predator avoidance behaviour in presence of swimming predators but not of flying ones.

Selective piscivory by perch: Effects of predator size, prey size, and prey species

1991 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 2406-2411 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. M. Tonn ◽  
C. A. Paszkowski ◽  
I. J. Holopainen
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Prey Size ◽  
Predator Size
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