Food ration does not influence the effect of elevated CO2 on antipredator behaviour of a reef fish

Abstract

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 586:155-165 (2018) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12397 Food ration does not influence the effect of elevated CO2 on antipredator behaviour of a reef fish Shannon J. McMahon1,2,*, Jennifer M. Donelson2, Philip L. Munday2 1College of Marine and Environmental Science, and 2ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD 4811, Australia *Corresponding author: shannon.mcmahon@jcu.edu.au ABSTRACT: The appropriate behavioural response to predation risk is critical to survival; however, behavioural responses can be subjected to trade-offs. For example, individuals may engage in riskier foraging behaviour to secure sufficient energy if resources are limited. Additionally, elevated CO2 can influence foraging and antipredator behaviour of marine organisms. Yet, how the availability of energetic resources may influence antipredator behaviour in an elevated CO2 environment is unknown. We tested the effects of food ration (low and high: 4 and 8% of body weight per day, respectively) on antipredator behaviour at ambient (489 µatm) and elevated (1022 µatm) CO2 in juvenile Amphiprion percula at 50 d post-hatching. Juveniles were from parents held at either ambient or elevated CO2, as parental exposure can influence phenotypic response in offspring. Antipredator behaviour was severely impaired by elevated CO2, with juveniles reared at elevated CO2 exhibiting no change in feeding rate in the presence of the predator cue compared with a >67% reduction in feeding rate in ambient CO2 fish. By contrast, food ration had a minor effect on the change in feeding rate in response to the predator cue, with only a 2.3% difference between high and low food ration fish. The effect of elevated CO2 on antipredator behaviour of juveniles was not influenced by food ration. Parental exposure to elevated CO2 influenced the baseline feeding rate and exhibited a small carry-over effect in elevated CO2 juveniles. These results suggest that reef fish could exhibit riskier behaviour at elevated CO2 levels, regardless of the energetic resources available. KEY WORDS: Ocean acidification · Energy budget · Predation · Trade-offs · Parental effects · Climate change Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: McMahon SJ, Donelson JM, Munday PL (2018) Food ration does not influence the effect of elevated CO2 on antipredator behaviour of a reef fish. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 586:155-165. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12397 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 586. Online publication date: January 11, 2018 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2018 Inter-Research.