Risk of Predation and Its Influence on the Relative Competitive Abilities of Two Species of Freshwater Fishes

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. 1629-1633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark V. Abrahams
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fathead Minnow ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Turbid Water ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Competitive Abilities ◽  
Two Parameters

Experiments were conducted with fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas) and brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) to determine whether their relative feeding rates were affected by risk of predation. Six groups of both species were observed foraging for food provided by an automated feeder while two parameters were manipulated: the presence or absence of a predator, yellow perch (Perca flavescens), and clear or turbid water. It was hypothesized that the armour and spines of brook stickleback would be of greatest benefit during a direct encounter with a predator. I attempted to simulate this condition with turbid water and predator present. Feeding rates of the two species were significantly different, with fathead minnow feeding at a greater rate than brook stickleback in the absence of a predator. In the presence of a predator the feeding rate of fathead minnow declined significantly whereas that of brook stickleback was unaffected. This resulted in similar feeding rates for the two species in the presence of a predator. Results demonstrate that risk of predation can alter the relative competitive abilities of two species in situations where one species possesses a morphological adaptation against predation. In the absence of predators, these traits may be detrimental in interspecific competition for food.

Laboratory survival of four prey in the presence of northern pike

1989 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford L. K. Robinson
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fathead Minnow ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Perca Flavescens ◽  
Relative Survival ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Northern Pike ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Predator Interactions ◽  
Brook Stickleback

I determined experimentally the relative survival of similar-sized yellow perch (Perca flavescens), brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and finescale dace (Phoxinus neogaeus), individually and in all possible species combinations, in the presence of northern pike (Esox lucius). Overall, perch showed the highest, sticklebacks and dace the intermediate, and fatheads the lowest relative survival. Differential laboratory survival of prey demonstrates the utility of single species experiments in predicting the results of multiple prey and predator interactions. The results also support the hypothesis that piscivory can maintain the distinctness of assemblages of predation-tolerant and piscivorous species versus assemblages of predation-intolerant species.

LEARNED RECOGNITION OF HETEROSPECIFIC ALARM CUES ENHANCES SURVIVAL DURING ENCOUNTERS WITH PREDATORS

Behaviour ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 139 (7) ◽  
pp. 929-938 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Chivers ◽  
Reehan Mirza ◽  
Jeffery Johnston
Keyword(s):  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Mixed Diet ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues ◽  
Chemical Stimuli

AbstractNumerous species of aquatic animals release chemical cues when attacked by a predator. These chemicals serve to warn other conspecifics, and in some cases heterospecifics, of danger, and hence have been termed alarm cues. Responses of animals to alarm cues produced by other species often need to be learned, yet mechanisms of learned recognition of heterospecific cues are not well understood. In this study, we tested whether fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) could learn to recognize a heterospecific alarm cue when it was combined with conspecific alarm cue in the diet of a predator. We exposed fathead minnows to chemical stimuli collected from rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, fed a mixed diet of minnows and brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans, or trout fed a mixed diet of swordtails, Xiphophorous helleri, and stickleback. To test if the minnows had acquired recognition of the heterospecific alarm cues, we exposed them to stickleback alarm cues and introduced an unknown predator, yellow perch (Perca flavescens) or northern pike (Esox lucius). Both perch and pike took longer to initiate an attack on minnows that were previously exposed to trout fed minnows and stickleback than those previously exposed to trout fed swordtails and stickleback. These results demonstrate that minnows can learn to recognize heterospecific alarm cues based on detecting the heterospecific cue in combination with minnow alarm cues in the diet of the predator. Ours is the first study to demonstrate that behavioural responses to heterospecific chemical alarm cues decreases the probability that the prey will be attacked and captured during an encounter with a predator.

The influence of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) predation and habitat complexity on the structure of littoral zone fish assemblages

2001 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-351 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pamela SD MacRae ◽  
Donald A Jackson
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Complexity ◽  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Visual Assessment ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Micropterus Dolomieu ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
The Impact

Fish assemblages in small lakes ([Formula: see text]50 ha) in central Ontario were characterized to determine the impact of smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu) predation and habitat complexity on the structure of littoral zone fish assemblages. Data were collected employing minnow traps and visual assessment. Although species richness did not differ between lakes with and without smallmouth bass, species composition and relative abundance did differ. We identified two distinct fish assemblage types: one characterized by small-bodied species, mainly cyprinids, and a second by large-bodied centrarchid species, e.g., smallmouth bass. Smallmouth bass appear to reduce abundance, alter habitat use, and extirpate many small-bodied species such as brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans), fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), pearl dace (Margariscus margarita), and Phoxinus spp.

Predator diet cues and the assessment of predation risk by juvenile brook charr: do diet cues enhance survival?

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reehan S Mirza ◽  
Douglas P Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Brook Charr ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Predator Diet ◽  
Rainbow Trout Oncorhynchus Mykiss ◽  
Diet Cues ◽  
Evolutionarily Conserved ◽  
Brook Stickleback

Recent studies have shown that predator diet cues provide important information that prey animals can use to assess predation risk. Predator-naïve prey animals may even learn to recognize unknown predators when they detect conspecific cues in the predator's diet. We examined the importance of predator diet cues in the responses of juvenile brook charr (Salvelinus fontinalis) to chemical cues of predators. In our first experiment, we showed that charr respond to chemical cues of adult yellow perch (Perca flavescens) that were fed a diet of either brook charr or rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), but not to perch fed a diet of brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans). Responses to diet cues from perch fed both charr and trout may indicate that charr are responding to evolutionarily conserved salmonid alarm cues in the predator's diet. In a second experiment, we exposed charr to chemical cues from predatory northern pike (Esox lucius) that were fed charr, trout, or stickleback. Live-predation trials revealed that charr exposed to diet cues from pike fed salmonids exhibited higher survival than charr exposed to diet cues from pike fed a non-salmonid. These results are the first to document a survival benefit for prey exhibiting behavioural responses to predator diet cues.

Recovery of fish populations in Lake 223 from experimental acidification

2000 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 192-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
K H Mills ◽  
S M Chalanchuk ◽  
D J Allan
Keyword(s):  
Fish Species ◽  
Fathead Minnow ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Growth Curves ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Fish Populations ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Annual Survival ◽  
Experimental Acidification

The fish populations of Lake 223, a lake previously acidified to pH 5.1, were monitored during 13 years of gradual pH recovery to preacidification pH 6.7. During acidification, recruitment ceased for all fish species in this lake and two were extirpated. During pH recovery, successful recruitment resumed for all fish species that remained in the lake. One of the extirpated species, fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), successfully colonized the lake. Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) abundance decreased during acidification and remained low during pH recovery due to very low recruitment. Growth curves, condition factor, and annual survival of lake trout decreased during acidification and quickly increased to preacidification values during pH recovery. During the early years of pH recovery, white sucker (Catostomus commersoni) abundance increased to almost 10 times the number at the start of the experiment but decreased during the final years due to decreased annual survival and recruitment. Pearl dace (Margariscus margarita) became abundant during acidification and their abundance decreased during pH recovery as fathead minnow abundance increased. Other fish species that were caught infrequently prior to acidification, brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans), lake chub (Couesius plumbeus), and finescale dace (Phoxinus neogaeus), were caught frequently during pH recovery.

Influence of Environmental Factors and Piscivory in Structuring Fish Assemblages of Small Alberta Lakes

1989 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clifford L. K. Robinson ◽  
William M. Tonn
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Hierarchical Classification ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Northern Pike ◽  
Boreal Lakes ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Dominant Process

We surveyed 45 small lakes in central Alberta to determine if discrete, repeatable types of fish assemblages exist, to identify the main environmental and biotic processes likely responsible for assemblage-level patterns, and to compare and contrast Alberta patterns with those observed in other regions of North America. Overall, 11 species of fish were caught in 36 lakes; nine lakes were fishless. Hierarchical classification and detrended correspondence analysis of fish species presence/absence identified two main assemblage types, characterized by northern pike (Esox lucius) and yellow perch (Perca flavescens) versus brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) and fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas). Pike/perch lakes were significantly deeper and larger than lakes of the stickleback/fathead assemblage type; however, a subset of the former group lacking yellow perch was environmentally similar to stickleback/fathead lakes. Piscivory by northern pike appears to be the dominant process maintaining nearly complete negative associations between members of the two assemblage types. Despite environmental and faunal-richness differences, our results were not unlike those from southern Ontario and northern Wisconsin. For small boreal lakes of North America, piscivory and processes related to a small number of environmental variables, such as maximum depth, surface area, and isolation, appear to be most important in structuring fish assemblages.

Hormonal manipulations of growth rate and its influence on predator avoidance - foraging trade-offs

2000 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-127 ◽  
Author(s):  
M V Abrahams ◽  
T C Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Growth Rate ◽  
Growth Rates ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
High Growth ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Feeding Rates ◽  
Trade Offs ◽  
Two Parameters ◽  
The Impact

Theoretical investigations into the impact that predators exert on prey species suggest that two parameters, growth rate and mortality rate, should be the most influential in determining when animals should risk exposure to a predator in order to achieve higher feeding rates. While these two parameters have usually been assumed to be environmentally determined, we used thyroid hormone (3,3prime,5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T3)) to manipulate growth rates and examine the behavioural consequences associated with these manipulations. In two experiments, we examined how the growth rate of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) is affected by treatment with T3, and used the results from this experiment to make a priori predictions about their relative willingness to risk exposure to a predator in order to receive increased feeding rates. The first experiment demonstrated that T3 significantly reduced the growth rates of fathead minnows compared with an unmanipulated control. When groups were compared in their relative willingness to risk exposure to a predator, manipulated growth rates in the first experiment were an accurate predictor of behaviour; groups with relatively high growth rates were more willing to risk exposure to a predator. These results are consistent with the theoretical expectation that growth rates should be an important factor determining decisions that involve trade-offs.

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