Does donor group size matter? The response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to disturbance cues from conspecific and heterospecific donors
| Autor: | Annick Singh, Laurence E. A. Feyten, Ebony E.M. Demers, Jack A Goldman, Grant E. Brown |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
Public information Disturbance (geology) biology 05 social sciences Convict Zoology biology.organism_classification 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Predation Guppy Donor group Poecilia 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Animal Science and Zoology 050102 behavioral science & comparative psychology Convict cichlid Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics |
| Zdroj: | Canadian Journal of Zoology. 97:319-325 |
| ISSN: | 1480-3283 0008-4301 |
| DOI: | 10.1139/cjz-2018-0170 |
| Popis: | Prey are under immense pressure to make context-specific, behavioural decisions. Prey use public information to reduce the costs associated with making inappropriate decisions. Chemical cues are commonly used by aquatic vertebrates to assess local threats and facilitate behavioural decision making. Previous studies on chemosensory assessment of risk have largely focused on damage-released alarm cues, with the cues released by disturbed or stressed prey (i.e., disturbance cues) receiving less attention. Disturbance cues are “early-warning signals” common among aquatic vertebrates that may warn conspecific and heterospecific prey guild members of potential risk. Initially, we conducted a series of laboratory studies to determine (i) if guppies (Poecilia reticulata Peters, 1859) produce and respond to disturbance cues and (ii) if relative concentration (donor group size) determines response intensity. Secondly, we examined if guppies and convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata (Günther, 1867)) show similar response patterns to their own vs. heterospecific disturbance cues. Our results suggest that guppies exhibit increased predator avoidance behaviour to conspecific disturbance cues (relative to water from undisturbed conspecifics) and increased donor group size lead to stronger antipredator responses. However, although guppies and cichlids respond to each other’s disturbance cues, we found no effect of donor group size towards heterospecific disturbance cues. Our results suggest that disturbance cues are not generalized cues and present a degree of species-specificity. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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