Sensory ecology in a changing world: salinity alters conspecific recognition in an amphidromous fish, Pseudomugil signifer |
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Authors: | James E Herbert-Read Deluxmi Logendran Ashley J W Ward |
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Institution: | (1) Centre for Research on Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities, School of Biological Sciences, Marine Ecology Laboratories, A11, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia |
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Abstract: | Group fission and fusion processes are driven by state dependence, risk and the availability of information from others. Yet
the availability of information changes under different environmental conditions, thus aiding or inhibiting group formation
and maintenance. Chemical cues provide information on the location of individuals and can act as a mechanism for individuals
to group together, although they can be greatly affected by environmental conditions. Using a flow channel, we studied how
one shoaling fish species, the Pacific blue-eye (Pseudomugil signifer), responds to conspecific chemical cues (CCCs) in different environmental conditions (salinities). This species lives in estuarine
environments, ranging in salinity from fresh to fully marine. P. signifer responded to CCCs in freshwater but not in saltwater. Furthermore, P. signifer did not respond to saltwater with CCCs added from freshwater. It took significantly longer for fish in saltwater, than in
freshwater, to locate and join a shoal when only CCCs from the shoal were present. Finally, fish formed more cohesive shoals
in freshwater than in brackish or saltwater. These results suggest that these fish do not rely on chemical cues in saltwater
to locate conspecific shoals. Furthermore, the reduced amounts of these cues in saltwater may inhibit the maintenance of tight
shoal structures. We suggest that fish utilise different sensory modalities in fresh or saltwater in order to locate one another,
or the social structure of these groups is fundamentally different between these two water types. The importance of this study
in relation to understanding how animals utilise and change different sensory modalities in varying environmental conditions
is discussed. |
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