Evidence of the peptide identity of the epidermal alarm cue in tadpoles of the toad Rhinella arenarum

2020 ◽  
pp. 230-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilina Raices
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Release Mechanism ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cue ◽  
Antipredator Response ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Tissue Source ◽  
Rhinella Arenarum ◽  
Amphibian Tadpole ◽  
Defensive Behaviours ◽  
Sustained Inhibition

Chemical cues associated with predation attempts allow prey to trigger defensive behaviours. Accordingly, tadpoles of several species of anurans display strong behavioural responses to chemical cues of injured conspecifics. As part of the antipredator response, tadpoles show rapid and sustained inhibition of activity when exposed to chemical cues of predation. Although the ability to respond to cues of conspecifics has been confirmed in a wide variety of anuran species, studies about the tissue source and the chemical aspects of the molecules involved are scarce and contradictory. In the present work, we analysed the chemical characteristics, tissue source and release mechanism of the chemical alarm cue in Rhinella arenarum tadpoles. Our results support the hypothesis that a peptide of epidermal origin in mediates amphibian tadpole communication.

Aggregation Status and Cue Type Modify Tadpole Response to Chemical Cues

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devin B. Preston ◽  
M. R. J. Forstner
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Response Strength ◽  
Population Viability ◽  
Antipredator Response ◽  
History Effects ◽  
Honestly Significant Difference ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reduced Activity

Abstract Many anuran larvae exhibit an antipredator response to chemical cues released by potential predators. The genus Bufo is no exception, as many bufonids exhibit an antipredator response (e.g., reduction in activity) to the presence (recent and current) of predators. Using a mesocosm experiment in a field laboratory setting, we tested solo and groups of Bufo (Incilius) nebulifer tadpoles for an antipredator response to chemical cues produced by 1) the presence of anisopteran nymphs (kairomone cue) and 2) the predation of conspecifics by anisopteran nymphs (a combination of diet and alarm cues, which we termed predation cue). We quantified the magnitude of the response by calculating response strength. We analyzed data with a blocked ANOVA followed by a Tukey's honestly significant difference analysis. We found that chemical cue type (kairomone vs. predation) affected response strength, but aggregation status (solo vs. group) did not. Furthermore, solo tadpoles and groups of tadpoles reduced their activity in response to predation cues, whereas only solo tadpoles reduced their activity in response to kairomone cues, a heretofore unobserved phenomenon. Our results suggest that B. nebulifer tadpoles modulate their response to specific types of chemical cues depending on their aggregation status. As reduced activity comes at a cost to resource acquisition and growth, aggregation status may indirectly affect the life history of B. nebulifer. The elucidation of these potential life history effects may aid managers in estimating anuran population viability.

Ontogenetic changes in chemical alarm cue recognition and fast-start performance in guppies (Poecilia reticulata )

Ethology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 123 (12) ◽  
pp. 916-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jigang Xia ◽  
Meiling Cheng ◽  
Ruiyu Cai ◽  
Shijian Fu ◽  
Steven J. Cooke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Poecilia Reticulata ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cue ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Fast Start ◽  
Cue Recognition

Behavioural Responses by Red-backed Salamanders to Conspecific and Heterospecific Cues

Behaviour ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 140 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-564 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron Sullivan ◽  
Jason Rohr ◽  
Dale Madison
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Related Species ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Plethodon Cinereus ◽  
Phylogenetic Relatedness ◽  
Behavioural Responses ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Predation Event ◽  
Plethodontid Salamanders ◽  
Desmognathus Ochrophaeus

AbstractChemical cues released from injured prey are thought to indicate the proximity of a predator or predation event, and therefore, an area of elevated predation risk. Prey often avoid chemical cues released from injured heterospecifics, but there is little evidence to determine whether this is due to homologous cues among phylogenetically related species, or avoidance of injured syntopic species that experience predation from the same predators. The purpose of this study was to examine the response of terrestrial red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) to chemical cues from non-injured and injured members of their prey guild that vary in their relatedness to P.cinereus. In the laboratory, P.cinereus avoided chemical cues from injured conspecifics, injured and non-injured slimy salamanders (P.glutinosus), and injured confamilial dusky salamanders (Desmognathus ochrophaeus). Red-backed salamanders did not avoid rinses from non-injured conspecifics and dusky salamanders, or cues from injured and non-injured earthworms (Lumbricus sp.), a more distantly related prey guild member. These results cannot be fully explained by either phylogenetic relatedness (among plethodontid salamanders) or prey guild membership alone. We suggest that a combination of these factors, and perhaps others, likely influenced the evolution of heterospecific alarm cue avoidance in the red-backed salamander.

ONTOGENETIC CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO HETEROSPECIFIC ALARM CUES BY JUVENILE LARGEMOUTH BASS ARE PHENOTYPICALLY PLASTIC

Behaviour ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 139 (7) ◽  
pp. 913-927 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon Gershaneck ◽  
Justin Golub ◽  
Grant Brown ◽  
Desiree Plata
Keyword(s):  
Largemouth Bass ◽  
Standard Length ◽  
Micropterus Salmoides ◽  
Alarm Cues ◽  
Ontogenetic Changes ◽  
Body Type ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cue ◽  
Alarm Cue ◽  
Information Cues ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cues

AbstractJuvenile largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) undergo an ontogenetic change in their response to chemical alarm cues of a heterospecific prey guild member (finescale dace, Phoxinus neogaeus), shifting from an antipredator to a foraging response at a standard length of 50 to 55 mm. We conducted a laboratory study to determine if: (1) this shift is fixed or phenotypically plastic, and (2) juvenile bass respond to the alarm cues of a non-Ostariophysan prey guild member. Juvenile bass were reared on high versus low food diets for 10 weeks prior to the experiment, and then exposed to heterospecific skin extracts (the source of chemical alarm cues). When exposed to the skin extracts of finescale dace or green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus), juvenile bass exhibited a significant positive relationship between standard length and horizontal and vertical area use and time spent moving. In addition, there was a significant effect of body type, with bass with deeper body morphs shifting from antipredator to foraging responses earlier than those with shallower body morphs. Bass exhibited no change in behaviour to swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri) skin extracts, which lack a chemical alarm cue recognized by bass. These data strongly suggest that the developmental point at which bass switch from an antipredator to a foraging response is phenotypically plastic and dependant upon body morphology, and that bass are capable of using the chemical alarm cue of at least two, taxonomically diverse, heterospecific prey guild members as social information cues.

scholarly journals Behavioral and Physiological Responses of Ozark Zigzag Salamanders to Stimuli from an Invasive Predator: The Armadillo

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam L. Crane ◽  
Carly E. McGrane ◽  
Alicia Mathis
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Consumption ◽  
High Risk ◽  
North America ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Behavioral Syndrome ◽  
Dasypus Novemcinctus ◽  
Antipredator Response ◽  
Escape Behaviors

When new predators invade a habitat, either through range extensions or introductions, prey may be at a high risk because they do not recognize the predators as dangerous. The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has recently expanded its range in North America. Armadillos forage by searching soil and leaf litter, consuming invertebrates and small vertebrates, including salamanders. We tested whether Ozark zigzag salamanders (Plethodon angusticlavius) from a population coexisting with armadillos for about 30 years exhibit antipredator behavior in the presence of armadillo chemical cues and whether they can discriminate between stimuli from armadillos and a nonpredatory sympatric mammal (white-tailed deer,Odocoileus virginianus). Salamanders appeared to recognize substrate cues from armadillos as a threat because they increased escape behaviors and oxygen consumption. When exposed to airborne cues from armadillos, salamanders also exhibited an antipredator response by spending more time in an inconspicuous posture. Additionally, individually consistent behaviors across treatments for some response variables suggest the potential for a behavioral syndrome in this species.

Behavioral avoidance of injured conspecific and predatory chemical stimuli by larvae of the aquatic caddisfly Hesperophylax occidentalis

2009 ◽  
Vol 87 (11) ◽  
pp. 1009-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Gall ◽  
E. D. Brodie, Jr.
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Antipredator Behavior ◽  
Predator Recognition ◽  
Aquatic Life ◽  
Chemical Alarm Cue ◽  
Behavioral Avoidance ◽  
Caddisfly Larvae ◽  
Chemical Stimuli ◽  
Similar Decrease

Prey animals often encounter situations that hinder their ability to conduct normal fitness-enhancing behaviors. Mating and foraging are frequently interrupted by predator vigilance and avoidance, and antipredator behavior. Many caddisfly larvae build protective cases that are carried with them throughout the aquatic life cycle. However, they are still vulnerable to predation, yet it is unknown the extent caddisflies use chemical cues for predator recognition and avoidance. We exposed larval caddisfly Hesperophylax occidentalis (Banks, 1908) to predatory, conspecific, and heterospecific chemical cues to determine if caddisfly larvae can use chemical stimuli alone for predator recognition and avoidance. Exposure to predator and injured conspecific chemicals elicited significant decreases in activity, while exposure to injured and uninjured heterospecific chemicals yielded no significant change in activity. The extended latency to move following exposure to predator kairomones indicates larval caddisflies utilize chemical cues for predator recognition and avoidance, and a similar decrease in movement associated with exposure to injured conspecifics suggests the presence of a chemical alarm cue.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document