Abstract
Teleost and amphibian prey undertake fast-start escape responses during a predatory attack in an attempt to avoid being captured. Although previously viewed as a reflex reaction controlled by the autonomic nervous system, the escape responses of individuals when repeatedly startled are highly variable in their characteristics, suggesting some behavioural mediation of the response. Previous studies have shown that fishes are able to learn from past experiences, but few studies have assessed how past experience with predators affect the fast-start response. Here we determined whether prior experience with the smell or sight of a predator (the Dottyback, Pseudochromis fuscus) affected the escape response of juveniles of the Spiny Chromis (Acanthochromis polyacanthus). Results show that individuals exposed to any of the predator cues prior to being startled exhibited a stronger escape response (i.e., reduced latency, increased escape distance, mean response speed, maximum response speed and maximum acceleration) when compared with controls. This study demonstrates the plasticity of escape responses and highlights the potential for naïve reef fish to take into account both visual and olfactory threat cues simultaneously to optimise the amplitude of their kinematic responses to perceived risk.
Highlights
Most organisms live under a constant threat of predation, and this threat is highest during the early life stages when the capacity for prey to detect and avoid or evade predation is low [1]
The prey species used was the Spiny Chromis, Acanthochromis polyacanthus (Pomacentridae), a reef-associated brooding planktivore commonly found on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia
There was a difference in the overall fast-start behaviour of fish in response to the treatments (MANOVA, Pillai’s Trace: F18, 159 = 3.4, p < 0.0001; Fig 1)
Summary
Most organisms live under a constant threat of predation, and this threat is highest during the early life stages when the capacity for prey to detect and avoid or evade predation is low [1]. The few studies that have examined within-individual variation in fast-start responses have found considerable levels of variation (exceeding 40%) in many of the kinematic aspects that characterise the consecutive bursts [13,14]. This individual variability in escape responses is ecologically meaningful, as responding with maximum effort regardless of the relative risk is an energetically costly strategy due to the anaerobically costly process of high speed swimming and disruption to other fitness-related behaviours such as foraging. We investigated two questions: (1) Are A. polyacanthus individuals consistent in their fast-start responses? (2) Does the perceived risk level influence the strength of the preys fast-start response?
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