Making sense of predator scents: investigating the sophistication of predator assessment abilities of fathead minnows

Kusch, Robin C.; Mirza, Reehan S.; Chivers, Douglas P.

doi:10.1007/s00265-003-0743-8

Cited by 93 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Previous work in adult and juvenile fishes has established that depuration periods as short as 5 d are sufficient in allowing for the reestablishment of responses disrupted by cadmium exposure [23,24]. Moreover, Bettini et al [25] showed that complete olfactory neuron regeneration in adult fishes exposed to high concentrations (20,30, and 100 g/L) of copper for 4 d occurs within 10 d. This would suggest that our 14-d depuration period should have been adequate to allow for the recovery of the olfactory system regardless of the physiological mechanism. We could, therefore, conclude that metal exposure during embryonic development can result in long-term, perhaps permanent hindrance of olfactory-mediated responses.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An increase in shelter use was said to have occurred if the fish showed a 25% or greater increase from the prestimulus to the poststimulus period (120 s). This criterion was chosen, as it is above the observed mean time spent seeking shelter for control fish in previous studies [22,30]. Likewise, a fish that exhibited dashing or freezing was considered to have shown an antipredator response.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chronic exposure to low concentrations of waterborne cadmium during embryonic and larval development results in the long‐term hindrance of antipredator behavior in zebrafish

Kusch

Krone

Chivers

2008

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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Abstract-Cadmium has been recognized for some time as a potent environmental pollutant with the capability of disrupting olfactory-mediated behaviors. Failing to respond to chemical cues in the environment could adversely affect foraging, reproduction and predator avoidance. Recognizing this impaired perception as a serious ecological problem has been undermined by the fact that the damage is often reversible; short depuration periods of 5 d may allow for the re-establishment of responses to chemical cues. In this experiment, early life stage zebrafish were continuously exposed for 50 d at 0, 0.2, 2.0, and 20 g Cd/L. The subjects were depurated for 14 d and then subjected to behavioral testing where antipredator responses to chemical alarm cues were observed. Our data show that continuous exposure during rearing to a concentration as low as 20 g Cd/L is sufficient at eliminating antipredator behavior in zebrafish (Danio rerio) even after the source of the cadmium had been removed for 14 d. Furthermore, subjects raised under a 10-fold lower concentration also showed alteration in their behavioral responses, taking significantly longer to respond to the predation threat. Exposure to low levels of cadmium throughout development may alter neurogenesis, subsequently resulting in long-term impairment of chemical cue perception.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronic exposure to low concentrations of waterborne cadmium during embryonic and larval development results in the long‐term hindrance of antipredator behavior in zebrafish

Kusch

Krone

Chivers

2008

Enviro Toxic and Chemistry

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“…Alarm cues released from damaged or consumed conspecifics have been shown to induce morphological defences in fish (e.g., Chivers et al 2007;Januszkiewicz and Robinson 2007;Chivers et al 2008). Although fish can assess predation risk by olfactory cues and behave accordingly (e.g., Kusch et al 2004), it often remains unknown whether predators' own or prey-related cues induce morphological change in prey. Perch only induced plastic responses in crucian carp when fed on crucian carp, but not when fed on an invertebrate diet (Brönmark and Pettersson 1994).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Costly plastic morphological responses to predator specific odour cues in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

et al. 2010

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Predation risk is one of the major forces affecting phenotypic variation among and within animal populations. While fixed anti-predator morphologies are favoured when predation level is consistently high, plastic morphological responses are advantageous when predation risk is changing temporarily, spatially, or qualitatively. Three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are well known for their substantial variability in morphology, including defensive traits. Part of this variation might be due to phenotypic plasticity. However, little is known about sticklebacks' plastic ability to react morphologically to changing risks of predation and about the proximate cues involved. Using a split-clutch design we show that odour of a predatory fish induces morphological changes in sticklebacks. Under predation risk, i.e., when exposed to odour of a predator, fish grew faster and developed a different morphology, compared to fish reared under low predation risk, i.e., exposed to odour of a non-predatory fish, or in a fish-free environment. However, fast growing comes at cost of increased body asymmetries suggesting developmental constraints. The results indicate that sticklebacks are able to distinguish between predatory and non-predatory fishes by olfactory cues alone. As fishes were fed on invertebrates, this reaction was not induced by chemical cues of digested conspecifics, but rather by predator cues themselves. Further, the results show that variation in body morphology in sticklebacks has not only a strong genetical component, but is also based on plastic responses to 123Evol Ecol (2011) 25:641-656 DOI 10.1007 different environments, in our case different predation pressures, thus opening new questions for this model species in ecology and evolution.

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“…The magnitude and duration of these behavioural defences reflect a trade-off against other fitnessenhancing activities, such as feeding, mating or guarding territories (Lima and Dill, 1990). Consequently, many prey display threatsensitive responses to predator odours; that is, the intensity of the response correlates positively with the perceived level of risk based on the information contained in the chemical cues, such as the identity (Hawkins et al, 2007;Relyea, 2003a;Smith et al, 2008), size (Kusch et al, 2004) or -in some cases -density of predators (Ferrari et al, 2006;Relyea, 2003a). Furthermore, the concentration of predator odours indicates the spatial and/or temporal proximity of predators, allowing prey to further fine-tune their responses (Ferrari et al, 2006;Kats and Dill, 1998;van Buskirk and Arioli, 2002).…”

Section: Effects Of Predator Odours and Diet Cues On Prey Ecologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanisms underlying the control of responses to predator odours in aquatic prey

Mitchell

Bairos‐Novak

Ferrari

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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In aquatic systems, chemical cues are a major source of information through which animals are able to assess the current state of their environment to gain information about local predation risk. Prey use chemicals released by predators (including cues from a predator's diet) and other prey (such as alarm cues and disturbance cues) to mediate a range of behavioural, morphological and life-history antipredator defences. Despite the wealth of knowledge on the ecology of antipredator defences, we know surprisingly little about the physiological mechanisms that control the expression of these defensive traits. Here, we summarise the current literature on the mechanisms known to specifically mediate responses to predator odours, including dietary cues. Interestingly, these studies suggest that independent pathways may control predator-specific responses, highlighting the need for greater focus on predator-derived cues when looking at the mechanistic control of responses. Thus, we urge researchers to tease apart the effects of predator-specific cues (i.e. chemicals representing a predator's identity) from those of dietmediated cues (i.e. chemicals released from a predator's diet), which are known to mediate different ecological endpoints. Finally, we suggest some key areas of research that would greatly benefit from a more mechanistic approach.

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Making sense of predator scents: investigating the sophistication of predator assessment abilities of fathead minnows

Cited by 93 publications

References 32 publications

Chronic exposure to low concentrations of waterborne cadmium during embryonic and larval development results in the long‐term hindrance of antipredator behavior in zebrafish

Chronic exposure to low concentrations of waterborne cadmium during embryonic and larval development results in the long‐term hindrance of antipredator behavior in zebrafish

Costly plastic morphological responses to predator specific odour cues in three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

Mechanisms underlying the control of responses to predator odours in aquatic prey

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