Behavioral responses to food odor in juvenile marine fish: Acuity varies with species and fish length

Abstract

This study tested the hypothesis that acuity of behavioral responses to food odor in three commercially important species of marine fish would increase as juvenile length increased. Swimming activity among two size groups of fish was measured in the presence of a series of squid extract dilutions. Increased swimming activity in juvenile Pacific halibut Hippoglossus stenolepis Schmidt, walleye pollock Theragra chalcogramma Pallas, and sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria Pallas was stimulated above threshold concentrations of squid extract, expressed as dilution from full strength. Maximum chemosensory acuity was observed in smaller (8–14 cm total length, TL) Pacific halibut and walleye pollock, while larger sablefish (15–23 cm TL) continued to develop acuity. Response thresholds were highest (10 − 3 dilution) in Pacific halibut, at intermediate levels (10 − 4–10 − 6 dilution) in walleye pollock and smaller sablefish and reached the lowest levels (10 − 13 dilution) in larger sablefish. The widely held view that dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) are the primary chemosensory stimulants for fish food searching may not be valid for sablefish, as they detected squid extract at dilutions containing DFAA that appeared to be far below ambient sea water DFAA concentrations.