scholarly journals The hunter and the hunted—A 3D analysis of predator-prey interactions between three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and larvae of different prey fishes

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256427
Author(s):  
Jorrit Lucas ◽  
Albert Ros ◽  
Sarah Gugele ◽  
Julian Dunst ◽  
Juergen Geist ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Swimming Performance ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Slow Motion ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
3D Analysis ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Hunting Success

Predator-prey interactions play a key life history role, as animals cope with changing predation risk and opportunities to hunt prey. It has recently been shown that the hunting success of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) targeting fish larvae is dependent on both the size of the prey and the prior exposure of its species to stickleback predation. The purpose of the current study was to identify the behavioural predator-prey interactions explaining the success or failure of sticklebacks hunting larvae of three potential prey species [roach (Rutilus rutilus), perch (Perca fluviatilis) and whitefish (Coregonus wartmannii)] in a 3D environment. Trials were carried out for each prey species at four different size classes in a standardised laboratory setup and were recorded using a slow motion, stereo camera setup. 75 predator-prey interactions including both failed and successful hunts were subject to the analysis. 3D track analysis indicated that sticklebacks applied different strategies. Prey with less complex predator escape responses, i.e. whitefish larvae, were hunted using a direct but stealthy approach ending in a lunge, while the behaviourally more complex roach and perch larvae were hunted with a faster approach. A multivariate logistic regression identified that slow average speed and acceleration of the prey in the initial stages of the hunt increased the probability of stickleback success. Furthermore, predators adjusted their swimming direction more often when hunting larger whitefish compared to smaller whitefish. The results suggest that appropriate and adequately timed avoidance behaviours, which vary between prey species and ontogenetic stages, significantly increase the chances of outmanoeuvring and escaping stickleback predation. Small whitefish larvae can reach similar levels of swimming performance compared to older conspecifics, but display ineffective anti-predator behaviours, resulting in higher hunting success for sticklebacks. Thus, the development of appropriate anti-predator behaviours depending on size appears to be the crucial factor to escaping predation.

Piscivorous fishes diet dominated by the Asian cyprinid invader, topmouth gudgeon (Pseudorasbora parva)

Biologia ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiří Musil ◽  
Zdeněk Adámek
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Ecological Integrity ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Cyprinid Fish ◽  
Pseudorasbora Parva ◽  
Sander Lucioperca ◽  
Topmouth Gudgeon ◽  
Native Fishes

AbstractPredation on the non-native cyprinid, Pseudorasbora parva, was reported during an annual study in a small connecting canal about 40 km south of Brno, Czech Republic. Two cyprinid fish species (Pseudorasbora parva, Rutilus rutilus) were identified in the diet of 23 piscivores belonging to three native fishes (Perca fluviatilis, Sander lucioperca, Esox lucius). The relative abundance of prey fishes changed seasonally and was dominated by the topmouth gudgeon in spring. Thereafter roach incidence continuously increased. In contrast, topmouth gudgeon was found to be a more sized-available prey and was the most dominant prey species in the diet of all piscivorous fishes during the whole season. Strong piscivory towards this alien might be beneficial for its eradication or control to support ecological integrity in natural and modified seminatural habitats.

Temporal variation in juvenile fish communities of Kaunas reservoir littoral zone, Lithuania

2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 858-866 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valdemaras Žiliukas ◽  
Vida Žiliukienė ◽  
Rimantas Repečka
Keyword(s):  
Littoral Zone ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Juvenile Fish ◽  
Fish Communities ◽  
Perca Fluviatilis ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Diversity Indices ◽  
Fish Diversity ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Species Diversity Indices

AbstractThe aim of this study was to assess juvenile fish communities in terms of species composition, fish diversity and density in the littoral zone of the Kaunas reservoir before (in 1989–1990, period I) and after (in 1999–2000, period II, and in 2006–2007, period III) launching the Kruonis hydroelectric pumped plant (Kruonis HPP). During the whole research period, 20 fish species were caught. According to the frequency of occurrence, the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, European perch Perca fluviatilis and roach Rutilus rutilus were regarded as constant species in all investigated periods. Significant differences were established in juvenile fish community density between period I and periods II and III, whereas species richness (S) and species diversity indices (H′, J′) did not change significantly. The density of the shoreline community in period III was more than two times lower than in period I, probably due to higher fluctuations in water level of the reservoir, resulting from the Kruonis HPP operation.

The population dynamics of bite-sized predators: prey dependence, territoriality, and mobility

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Lambin
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Biological Barrier ◽  
Reciprocal Interactions ◽  
Demographic Rates ◽  
Risk Of Predation ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
Rodent Prey ◽  
Small Mustelids

The dependency of mustelid demographic rates on prey abundance has the potential to cause a strong coupling between predator-prey populations. Data on mustelid dynamics show that such strong reciprocal interactions only materialise in some restricted conditions. Bite-size mustelid predators searching for scarce, depleted prey expose themselves to increased risk of predation by larger predators of small mammal that are themselves searching for similar prey species. As voles or muskrats become scarcer, weasels and mink searching for prey over larger areas become increasingly exposed to intra-guild predation, unless they operate in a habitat refuge such as the sub-nivean space. Where larger predators are sufficiently abundant or exert year-round predation pressure on small mustelids, their impact on mustelids may impose biological barrier to dispersal that are sufficient to weaken the coupling between small mustelids and their rodent prey, and thus impose a degree of top down limitation on mustelids.

Three-dimensional predator–prey interactions: a computer simulation of bird flocks and aircraft

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (11) ◽  
pp. 2624-2633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter F. Major ◽  
Lawrence M. Dill ◽  
David M. Eaves
Keyword(s):  
Computer Simulation ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Aircraft Engine ◽  
Aquatic Environments ◽  
Aircraft Engines ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Simulation Techniques ◽  
Computer Simulation Techniques ◽  
Individual Prey

Three-dimensional interactions between grouped aerial predators (frontal discs of aircraft engines), either linearly arrayed or clustered, and flocks of small birds were studied using interactive computer simulation techniques. Each predator modelled was orders of magnitude larger than an individual prey, but the prey flock was larger than each predator. Expected numbers of individual prey captured from flocks were determined for various predator speeds and trajectories, flock–predator initial distances and angles, and flock sizes, shapes, densities, trajectories, and speeds. Generally, larger predators and clustered predators caught more prey. The simulation techniques employed in this study may also prove useful in studies of predator–prey interactions between schools or swarms of small aquatic prey species and their much larger vertebrate predators, such as mysticete cetaceans.The study also provides a method to study problems associated with turbine aircraft engine damage caused by the ingestion of small flocking birds, as well as net sampling of organisms in open aquatic environments.

scholarly journals On a Periodic Predator-Prey System with Holling III Functional Response and Stage Structure for Prey

2010 ◽  
Vol 2010 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Xiangzeng Kong ◽  
Zhiqin Chen ◽  
Li Xu ◽  
Wensheng Yang
Keyword(s):  
Functional Response ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Stage Structure ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Prey System ◽  
Sufficient And Necessary Conditions ◽  
Holling Iii Functional Response

We propose and study the permanence of the following periodic Holling III predator-prey system with stage structure for prey and both two predators which consume immature prey. Sufficient and necessary conditions which guarantee the predator and the prey species to be permanent are obtained.

scholarly journals Long-term UVB exposure promotes predator-inspection behaviour in a fish

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 20170497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Vitt ◽  
Janina E. Zierul ◽  
Theo C. M. Bakker ◽  
Ingolf P. Rick
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Stratospheric Ozone ◽  
Ultraviolet B ◽  
Antipredator Behaviour ◽  
Uvb Radiation ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Natural Sunlight ◽  
Predator Inspection

Ultraviolet-B radiation (UVB) reaching the earth's surface has increased due to human-caused stratospheric ozone depletion. Whereas the harmful effects of UVB on aquatic organisms are well studied at the molecular and cellular level, recent studies have also begun to address behavioural changes caused by sublethal amounts of UVB. However, the behavioural consequences of long-term exposure to ecologically relevant UVB levels over several life stages are virtually unknown, particularly with regard to predator–prey behaviour. We found increased predator-inspection behaviour together with a smaller body length in three-spined sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) after fish were exposed for about seven months to natural sunlight conditions with enhanced UVB, compared with full siblings exposed to natural sunlight only. The observed change in antipredator behaviour may reflect a direct behavioural response mediated through UVB-induced oxidative stress during development. Alternatively, the smaller body size in UVB-exposed fish may result in an increased inspection effort allowing them to spend more time foraging. Our findings suggest that, within the scope of environmental change, UVB radiation constitutes an important stress factor by eliciting behavioural responses that influence crucial ecological processes, such as predator–prey interactions.

scholarly journals Permanence of Periodic Predator-Prey System with Functional Responses and Stage Structure for Prey

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Can-Yun Huang ◽  
Min Zhao ◽  
Hai-Feng Huo
Keyword(s):  
Functional Response ◽  
Prey Species ◽  
Necessary Conditions ◽  
Stage Structure ◽  
Functional Responses ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Predator Prey Model ◽  
Prey System ◽  
Sufficient And Necessary Conditions ◽  
Holling Ii Functional Response

A stage-structured three-species predator-prey model with Beddington-DeAngelis and Holling II functional response is introduced. Based on the comparison theorem, sufficient and necessary conditions which guarantee the predator and the prey species to be permanent are obtained. An example is also presented to illustrate our main results.

Thermal acclimation and muscle contractile properties in cyprinid fish

1990 ◽  
Vol 259 (2) ◽  
pp. R231-R236 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. A. Johnston ◽  
J. D. Fleming ◽  
T. Crockford
Keyword(s):  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Swimming Performance ◽  
Force Production ◽  
Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Temperature Acclimation ◽  
Thermal Acclimation ◽  
Contractile Properties ◽  
Locomotory Activity ◽  
Roach Rutilus Rutilus ◽  
Goldfish Carassius Auratus

After several weeks of cold acclimation, the swimming performance of some fish is increased at low temperatures and decreased at high temperatures. The temperature compensation of locomotory activity involves changes in central patterns of muscle fiber recruitment and in the properties of the peripheral nervous system and muscle tissues. In some freshwater fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae, including the goldfish (Carassius auratus), the common carp (Cyprinus carpio), and the roach (Rutilus rutilus), the intrinsic contractile properties of muscles are modified by thermal acclimation. Parameters that can be altered by temperature acclimation in both fast and slow muscle fibers include isometric twitch contraction time, maximum force production, and unloaded shortening speed. The molecular mechanisms responsible for these changes in contractility are discussed.

Feeding behaviour of larval Ambystoma mexicanum

2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 509-517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego de Jesus Chaparro-Herrera ◽  
S. Nandini ◽  
S.S.S. Sarma ◽  
Luis Zambrano
Keyword(s):  
Prey Species ◽  
Fish Larvae ◽  
Natural Habitat ◽  
Ambystoma Mexicanum ◽  
Larval Stages ◽  
Conservation Effort ◽  
Consistent Increase ◽  
Zooplankton Consumption ◽  
Oviparous Fish ◽  
Heterocypris Incongruens

Abstract The Axolotl, Ambystoma mexicanum, endemic to the freshwater lakes, Xochimilco and Chalco in Mexico City, feeds on zooplankton during its larval stages. We evaluated the functional response over eight weeks of A. mexicanum fed different prey items found in its natural habitat (rotifers: Brachionus havanaensis, B. calyciflorus, B. rubens and Plationus patulus; cladocerans: Moina macrocopa, Macrothrix triserialis, Alona glabra and Simocephalus vetulus; and ostracods: Heterocypris incongruens). Zooplankton consumption by A. mexicanum varied in relation to the prey species and age of the larvae. Unlike oviparous fish larvae which often feed preferentially on rotifers in the first few weeks, A. mexicanum larvae fed more on cladocerans and ostracods. Among the cladocerans offered, larval A. mexicanum consumed higher numbers of M. triserialis and M. macrocopa. Feeding on the largest cladoceran tested, S. vetulus, increased after the fifth week. There was a consistent increase in the number of ostracods Heterocypris incongruens, consumed with age, from 4 to 169 prey per larva over eight weeks. The results are discussed with relation to the importance of zooplankton diet in conservation effort of this endangered species in Lake Xochimilco.

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