Chemical encoding of risk perception and predator detection among estuarine invertebrates
| Autor: | Marc J. Weissburg, Remington X. Poulin, Julia Kubanek, David A. Gaul, Serge Lavoie, Katherine J. Siegel |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2018 |
| Předmět: |
0106 biological sciences
0301 basic medicine Aquatic Organisms animal structures Brachyura Foraging Zoology Marine Biology Urine 010603 evolutionary biology 01 natural sciences Predation 03 medical and health sciences Panopeus herbstii Animals Metabolomics Predator Ecosystem Invertebrate Marine biology Multidisciplinary biology Ecology food and beverages Fear Feeding Behavior biology.organism_classification body regions Chemical ecology 030104 developmental biology Habitat Predatory Behavior Physical Sciences Cues Risk Reduction Behavior |
| Popis: | An effective strategy for prey to survive in habitats rich in predators is to avoid being noticed. Thus, prey are under selection pressure to recognize predators and adjust their behavior, which can impact numerous community-wide interactions. Many animals in murky and turbulent aquatic environments rely on waterborne chemical cues. Previous research showed that the mud crab, Panopeus herbstii, recognizes the predatory blue crab, Callinectus sapidus, via a cue in blue crab urine. This cue is strongest if blue crabs recently preyed upon mud crabs. Subsequently, mud crabs suppress their foraging activity, reducing predation by blue crabs. Using NMR spectroscopy- and mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, chemical variation in urine from blue crabs fed different diets was related to prey behavior. We identified the urinary metabolites trigonelline and homarine as components of the cue that mud crabs use to detect blue crabs, with concentrations of each metabolite dependent on the blue crab’s diet. At concentrations found naturally in blue crab urine, trigonelline and homarine, alone as well as in a mixture, alerted mud crabs to the presence of blue crabs, leading to decreased foraging by mud crabs. Risk perception by waterborne cues has been widely observed by ecologists, but the molecular nature of these cues has not been previously identified. Metabolomics provides an opportunity to study waterborne cues where other approaches have historically failed, advancing our understanding of the chemical nature of a wide range of ecological interactions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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