scholarly journals Embryonic exposure to predation risk and hatch time variation in fathead minnows

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0255961
Author(s):  
Marianna E. Horn ◽  
Douglas P. Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Time Variation ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Chemical Information ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Hatching Time ◽  
Embryonic Exposure ◽  
A Current

Organisms are exposed to a wealth of chemical information during their development. Some of these chemical cues indicate present or future dangers, such as the presence of predators that feed on either the developing embryos or their nearby parents. Organisms may use this information to modify their morphology or life-history, including hatching timing, or may retain information about risk until it gains relevance. Previous research has shown predation-induced alterations in hatching among embryonic minnows that were exposed to mechanical-injury-released alarm cues from conspecific embryos. Here, we test whether minnows likewise hatch early in response to alarm cues from injured adult conspecifics. We know that embryonic minnows can detect adult alarm cues and use them to facilitate learned recognition of predators; however, it is unknown whether these adult alarm cues will also induce a change in hatching time. Early hatching may allow animals to rapidly disperse away from potential predators, but late hatching may allow animals to grow and develop structures that allow them to effectively escape when they do hatch. Here, we found here that unlike embryonic fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) exposed to embryonic cues, embryonic minnows exposed to adult alarm cues do not exhibit early hatching. The ability of embryos to recognize adult alarm cues as a future threat, but not a current one, demonstrates sophisticated ontogenetic specificity in the hatching response of embryonic minnows.

The effects of crayfish predation on phenotypic and life-history variation in fathead minnows

2004 ◽  
Vol 82 (6) ◽  
pp. 917-921 ◽  
Author(s):  
R C Kusch ◽  
D P Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Life History Variation ◽  
Life History Stages ◽  
Hatching Time ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Induced Changes ◽  
Hatchling Size

Ecological theory predicts that the timing of the transition between life-history stages should vary with the costs and benefits associated with each stage. For example, the timing of hatching or metamorphosis may vary with the predation risk in each stage. Predator-induced changes in hatching time are well documented in some taxa but have not been reported in fishes. We provide the first empirical evidence that a species of fish can alter its hatching time in response to predator cues. We showed that fathead minnows, Pimephales promelas Rafinesque, 1820, exposed to chemical cues from virile crayfish, Orconectes virilis (Hagen, 1870), foraging on minnow embryos hatch sooner than those exposed to a blank control. Moreover, in the presence of cues from virile crayfish feeding on minnow embryos, the hatchlings exhibited a change in morphology because they had significantly shorter total lengths. There was a significant positive correlation between hatchling size and length of the developmental period, except in the high predation threat treatment. By hatching earlier, the fathead minnows escaped predation from virile crayfish that were actively foraging on fathead minnow eggs. Hatching at a smaller size, however, may make the fry more vulnerable to other predators.

Does habitat complexity influence the ability of fathead minnows to learn heterospecific chemical alarm cues?

2003 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 923-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Pollock ◽  
D P Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Complexity ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Habitat Characteristics ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Skin Extract ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues

Numerous aquatic animals release chemical cues when attacked by a predator. These cues "warn" other individuals of danger and have been termed alarm cues. Cross-species responses to alarm cues are common and in some cases result from learned recognition. However, little is known about the ecological factors that could influence this learned recognition. The current study focuses on the role of habitat complexity in the learning of heterospecific alarm cues. We introduced brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) into outdoor pools containing fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) naïve to stickleback. The pools all contained a predatory fish (northern pike, Esox lucius) but varied in habitat characteristics. Pools representing high-complexity habitats had a large amount of structure to obscure the visual environment, while pools representing low-complexity habitats had minimal structure. After 8 days, fish were removed from the pools and behavioural assays were conducted in the laboratory. We tested the minnows for a response to either stickleback skin extract (experimental) or swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) skin extract (control) and found that minnows conditioned in pools with little structure had learned to recognize stickleback alarm cues, while those from pools with complex structure did not recognize stickleback alarm cues.

scholarly journals Conspecific and heterospecific alarm substances induce behavioral responses in juvenile catfish Rhamdia quelen

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carina Vogel ◽  
Paula D. Weber ◽  
Carla Lang ◽  
Bernardo Baldisserotto
Keyword(s):  
Behavioral Response ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Latency Period ◽  
Chemical Information ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Predator Species ◽  
Silver Catfish ◽  
Rhamdia Quelen ◽  
Disturbance Cues ◽  
Observation Period

ABSTRACT The recognition of chemical information indicating the presence of a predator is very important for prey survival. In this study we tested antipredator behavioral response of juvenile silver catfish (Rhamdia quelen) against predator odor released by two different potential predators, Hoplias malabaricus and the snake Helicops infrataeniatus, and alarm cues and disturbance cues released by conspecifics and by non-predator species, Megaleporinus obtusidens and Astyanax lacustris. We used juvenile catfish that were naive to predators. The trials consisted of a 10-min prestimulus and a 10-min post-stimulus observation period. The behavioral response displayed by silver catfish exposed to alarm cues comprised a decrease in shelter use and an increase in locomotion, and also a longer latency period before feeding. Our results showed that juvenile silver catfish can perceive chemical cues released by predators, heterospecifics and conspecifics.

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.

Effects of body size, body condition, and breeding state on responses to alarm cues by fathead minnows

2006 ◽  
Vol 84 (9) ◽  
pp. 1351-1357 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.S. Pollock ◽  
R.J. Pollock ◽  
D.P. Chivers
Keyword(s):  
Breeding Season ◽  
Body Condition ◽  
Standard Length ◽  
Gonadosomatic Index ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
The Body ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Nonbreeding Season

There is often considerable variation in the intensity of behavioural responses of prey to predation cues. The purpose of the current study was to determine the role of standard length (a correlate of age), body condition (a measure of energy reserves, calculated by mass/(standard length)3), and gonadosomatic index (state of reproduction, calculated by gonad mass / body mass) in the responses of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas Rafinesque, 1820) to damage-release alarm cues. Our data indicate that during the nonbreeding season longer/older minnows exhibited significantly increased antipredator responses compared with younger individuals. However, the significance of these correlations ceased during the breeding season. Data from the same trials failed to reveal a significant correlation between the intensity of antipredator behaviour and the body condition before or during the breeding season; the intensity of a minnow’s antipredator response was also not significantly correlated with its gonadosomatic index. These data are important in understanding factors affecting antipredator behaviour of minnows, as well as aiding researchers in determining potential time of year confounds in future studies.

Development of apical pits in chloride cells of the gills of Pimephales promelas after chronic exposure to acid water

1983 ◽  
Vol 41 ◽  
pp. 462-463
Author(s):  
Richard L. Leino ◽  
Jon G. Anderson ◽  
J. Howard McCormick
Keyword(s):  
Confidence Interval ◽  
Chronic Exposure ◽  
Lake Superior ◽  
Pimephales Promelas ◽  
Chloride Cells ◽  
Fathead Minnows ◽  
Secondary Lamellae ◽  
Untreated Water ◽  
Water Ph ◽  
Flow Through

Groups of 12 fathead minnows were exposed for 129 days to Lake Superior water acidified (pH 5.0, 5.5, 6.0 or 6.5) with reagent grade H2SO4 by means of a multichannel toxicant system for flow-through bioassays. Untreated water (pH 7.5) had the following properties: hardness 45.3 ± 0.3 (95% confidence interval) mg/1 as CaCO3; alkalinity 42.6 ± 0.2 mg/1; Cl- 0.03 meq/1; Na+ 0.05 meq/1; K+ 0.01 meq/1; Ca2+ 0.68 meq/1; Mg2+ 0.26 meq/1; dissolved O2 5.8 ± 0.3 mg/1; free CO2 3.2 ± 0.4 mg/1; T= 24.3 ± 0.1°C. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd gills were subsequently processed for LM (methacrylate), TEM and SEM respectively.Three changes involving chloride cells were correlated with increasing acidity: 1) the appearance of apical pits (figs. 2,5 as compared to figs. 1, 3,4) in chloride cells (about 22% of the chloride cells had pits at pH 5.0); 2) increases in their numbers and 3) increases in the % of these cells in the epithelium of the secondary lamellae.

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