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Otter K, Gomidova S, Katz PS. Social predation by a nudibranch mollusc. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.07.01.600874. [PMID: 39005425 PMCID: PMC11244926 DOI: 10.1101/2024.07.01.600874] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/16/2024]
Abstract
Social predation is a common strategy used by predators to subdue and consume prey. Animals that use this strategy have many ways of finding each other, organizing behaviors and consuming prey. There is wide variation in the extent to which these behaviors are coordinated and the stability of individual roles. This study characterizes social predation by the nudibranch mollusc, Berghia stephanieae, which is a specialist predator that eats only the sea anemone, Exaiptasia diaphana. A combination of experimental and modeling approaches showed that B. stephanieae does predate upon E. diaphana in groups. The extent of social feeding was not altered by length of food deprivation, suggesting that animals are not shifting strategies based on internal state. It was unclear what cues the individual Berghia used to find each other; choice assays testing whether they followed slime trails, were attracted to injured anemones, or preferred conspecifics feeding did not reveal any cues. Individuals did not exhibit stable roles, such as leader or follower, rather the population exhibited fission-fusion dynamics with temporary roles during predation. Thus, the Berghia provides an example of a specialist predator of dangerous prey that loosely organizes social feeding, which persists across hunger states and uses temporary individual roles; however, the cues that it uses for aggregation are unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Otter
- Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA, USA
| | - Saida Gomidova
- Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA, USA
| | - Paul S. Katz
- Neuroscience and Behavior Graduate Program and Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst MA, USA
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Aguiñaga J, Jin S, Pesati I, Laskowski KL. Behavioral responses of a clonal fish to perceived predation risk. PeerJ 2024; 12:e17547. [PMID: 38912041 PMCID: PMC11192026 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.17547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/19/2024] [Indexed: 06/25/2024] Open
Abstract
Predation threat is a major driver of behavior in many prey species. Animals can recognize their relative risk of predation based on cues in the environment, including visual and/or chemical cues released by a predator or from its prey. When threat of predation is high, prey often respond by altering their behavior to reduce their probability of detection and/or capture. Here, we test how a clonal fish, the Amazon molly (Poecilia formosa), behaviorally responds to predation cues. We measured aggressive and social behaviors both under 'risk', where chemical cues from predatory fish and injured conspecifics were present, and control contexts (no risk cues present). We predicted that mollies would exhibit reduced aggression towards a simulated intruder and increased sociability under risk contexts as aggression might increase their visibility to a predator and shoaling should decrease their chance of capture through the dilution effect. As predicted, we found that Amazon mollies spent more time with a conspecific when risk cues were present, however they did not reduce their aggression. This highlights the general result of the 'safety in numbers' behavioral response that many small shoaling species exhibit, including these clonal fish, which suggests that mollies may view this response as a more effective anti-predator response compared to limiting their detectability by reducing aggressive conspecific interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Aguiñaga
- Ecology and Evolution, Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States of America
| | - Sophia Jin
- Ecology and Evolution, Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States of America
| | - Ishita Pesati
- Ecology and Evolution, Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States of America
| | - Kate L. Laskowski
- Ecology and Evolution, Center for Population Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, United States of America
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Personality variation is eroded by simple social behaviours in collective foragers. PLoS Comput Biol 2023; 19:e1010908. [PMID: 36862622 PMCID: PMC9980820 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010908] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2022] [Accepted: 01/31/2023] [Indexed: 03/03/2023] Open
Abstract
The movement of groups can be heavily influenced by 'leader' individuals who differ from the others in some way. A major source of differences between individuals is the repeatability and consistency of their behaviour, commonly considered as their 'personality', which can influence both position within a group as well as the tendency to lead. However, links between personality and behaviour may also depend upon the immediate social environment of the individual; individuals who behave consistently in one way when alone may not express the same behaviour socially, when they may be conforming with the behaviour of others. Experimental evidence shows that personality differences can be eroded in social situations, but there is currently a lack of theory to identify the conditions where we would expect personality to be suppressed. Here, we develop a simple individual-based framework considering a small group of individuals with differing tendencies to perform risky behaviours when travelling away from a safe home site towards a foraging site, and compare the group behaviours when the individuals follow differing rules for aggregation behaviour determining how much attention they pay to the actions of their fellow group-members. We find that if individuals pay attention to the other members of the group, the group will tend to remain at the safe site for longer, but then travel faster towards the foraging site. This demonstrates that simple social behaviours can result in the repression of consistent inter-individual differences in behaviour, giving the first theoretical consideration of the social mechanisms behind personality suppression.
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Balaban-Feld J, Vijayan S, Mitchell WA, Kotler BP, Badichi S, Abramsky Z. High risk of predation suppresses behavioural differences among bold and shy social prey individuals. BEHAVIOUR 2022. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-bja10179] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
Prey animals must attempt to optimize foraging success while reducing the probability of being captured. Within social prey groups, intrinsic differences in bold-shy personality among individuals influence their respective risk-taking tendencies. We examined the foraging and refuge use behaviour of mixed groups of goldfish (Carassius auratus) containing half bold individuals and half shy individuals under variable levels of predation risk from a live avian predator (Egretta garzetta). At the group level, the fish groups significantly decreased their foraging time by spending more time under the refuge when the predator spent more time at the focal pool. As expected, the bold fish tended to be the first to leave the refuge, and foraged outside the refuge more often than shy fish under control conditions and at lower risk levels. However, the behavioural differences between bold and shy fish disappeared under higher risk conditions. In terms of mortality, the predator captured significantly more bold fish than shy fish. Our study illustrates how bold individuals in social groups often take greater risks to achieve foraging success, but demonstrates that innate differences in boldness can be diminished in times of elevated predation risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesse Balaban-Feld
- Department of Biology, University of Saint Joseph, West Hartford, CT 06117, USA
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Sundararaj Vijayan
- Cesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute, Texas A&M University, Kingsville, TX 78363, USA
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - William A. Mitchell
- Department of Life Sciences, Indiana State University, Terre Haute, IN 47809, USA
| | - Burt P. Kotler
- The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Mitriani Department of Desert Ecology, Ben-Gurion University, Sde Boker 84990, Israel
| | - Shamir Badichi
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
| | - Zvika Abramsky
- Department of Life Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel
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Theódórsson BK, Ólafsdóttir GÁ. Laboratory measures of boldness correlate with ecological niche in threespine stickleback. Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.1002/ece3.9235] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
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Fu CW, Horng JL, Chou MY. Fish Behavior as a Neural Proxy to Reveal Physiological States. Front Physiol 2022; 13:937432. [PMID: 35910555 PMCID: PMC9326089 DOI: 10.3389/fphys.2022.937432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2022] [Accepted: 06/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Behaviors are the integrative outcomes of the nervous system, which senses and responds to the internal physiological status and external stimuli. Teleosts are aquatic organisms which are more easily affected by the surrounding environment compared to terrestrial animals. To date, behavioral tests have been widely used to assess potential environmental risks using fish as model animals. In this review, we summarized recent studies regarding the effects of internal and external stimuli on fish behaviors. We concluded that behaviors reflect environmental and physiological changes, which have possible implications for environmental and physiological assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chih-Wei Fu
- Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Jiun-Lin Horng
- Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Ming-Yi Chou
- Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan
- *Correspondence: Ming-Yi Chou,
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Daily foraging activity of an imperiled ground squirrel: effects of hibernation, thermal environment, body condition, and conspecific density. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-022-03142-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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Schons RF, Vitt S, Thünken T. Resource heterogeneity but not inbreeding affects growth and grouping behaviour in socially foraging juvenile cichlid fish. Funct Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.13960] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Rieke F. Schons
- Institute for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology University of Bonn Bonn Germany
| | - Simon Vitt
- Institute for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology University of Bonn Bonn Germany
| | - Timo Thünken
- Institute for Evolutionary Biology and Ecology University of Bonn Bonn Germany
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Polivka CM. Habitat affinity and density‐dependent movement as indicators of fish habitat restoration efficacy. Ecosphere 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3166] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Carlos M. Polivka
- Pacific Northwest Research Station USDA Forest Service Wenatchee Washington98801USA
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Risk-taking and locomotion in foraging threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus): the effect of nutritional stress is dependent on social context. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-019-2795-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Time to revisit? A predator's previous successes and failures in prey capture determine its return time to patches. Oecologia 2019; 190:387-397. [PMID: 31147778 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-019-04425-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/02/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
In a heterogeneous environment containing multiple patches that may deplete and renew, a forager should be able to detect the quality of food resources within and among patches and choose to exploit them to best maximize returns. From the predator's perspective, the behavioral responses of the prey in a patch will be perceived as depletion when they retreat to refuge and renewal when they reemerge. A predator encountering responsive prey should manage predation risk, and thus behavioral resource depression, by optimally timing its return time to the patch based on prey behavior. We evaluated the foraging decisions of a predator that encountered patches differing in size of the refuge and prey density. We used little egrets and goldfish as predators and prey in an environment that contained three patches (pools). We manipulated prey density and refuge size and availability (using covers) and observed predator foraging behavior. When the egret had previously caught a fish it did not discriminate between the pools, and the return time was similar for all cover types. The fish densities also did not affect the egret decisions to return to pools. However, when it failed to catch fish, it returned sooner to the pool containing the small cover than the larger one. Additionally, after failing to catch fish in patches containing the highest prey density, the egrets subsequently preferred to return to such patches sooner. We show experimentally that previous failures influence the foraging decisions of a predator choosing how quickly to return to a previously visited patch.
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