Yellowtail damselfish Chrysiptera parasema can associate predation risk with the acoustic call of a heterospecific damselfish following pairing with conspecific alarm cues

Abstract

The ability to detect and respond to the presence of predation risk is under intense selection, especially for small‐bodied fishes. Damselfishes (Pomacentridae) use auditory vocalizations during inter‐ and intrasexual interactions, but it is not known if they can use vocalizations in the context of predator–prey interactions. Here, we test if yellowtail damselfish, Chrysiptera parasema, can learn to associate the territorial vocalization of heterospecific humbug damselfish Dascyllus aruanus with predation risk. In conditioning trials yellowtail damselfish were presented with the territorial call of humbug damselfish while either blank water (control treatment) or chemical alarm cue derived from damaged skin of conspecific yellowtail damselfish was introduced. In conditioning trials, fish exposed to alarm cue exhibited increased activity and spent more time in the water column relative to fish that received the control treatment. After a single conditioning trial, conditioned fish were exposed again to the territorial call of humbug damselfish. Fish conditioned with the call + alarm cue showed increased activity and spent more time in the water column relative to fish that had been conditioned with the control treatment. These data indicate associative learning of an auditory stimulus with predation risk in a species that regularly uses auditory signalling in other contexts. Recordings of conditioning and test trials failed to detect any acoustic calls produced by test fish in response to the perception of predation risk. Thus, although yellowtail damselfish can associate risk with auditory stimuli, we found no evidence that they produce an alarm call.

Sounds like a damsel in distress!

“…While eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls has been observed in over 70 vertebrate species, it has been almost exclusively in mammals and birds (Magrath et al, 2015). However, in this Issue, Hanson et al (2024) buck this trend and explore interspecies call interactions in two species of damselfish using aquarium experiments.Hanson et al ( 2024) found, for the first time in a marine fish species, that yellowtail damselfish could associate predation risk from an auditory cue from another species (the humbug damselfish). The yellowtail's behavioral response to the humbug's territorial call came after the yellowtail had been conditioned with both the call and a chemical alarm cue, derived from damaged skin of another yellowtail damselfish.…”

“…While eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls has been observed in over 70 vertebrate species, it has been almost exclusively in mammals and birds (Magrath et al, 2015). However, in this Issue, Hanson et al (2024) buck this trend and explore interspecies call interactions in two species of damselfish using aquarium experiments.…”

“…While this could be an example of sensitization (i. e. the yellowtails responding to any sound, not just the humbug's call), authors believe this not the case, and that it is an example of associative learning. The reason for this being that in other fish systems, conditioned responses have been seen to be tone specific and not driven by sensitization.The work by Hanson et al (2024) highlights the complexity of species interactions in aquatic environments, and that listening out for a damsel in distress is not just limited to the realms of birds and mammals.…”

“…The work by Hanson et al (2024) highlights the complexity of species interactions in aquatic environments, and that listening out for a damsel in distress is not just limited to the realms of birds and mammals.…”