Sensory complementation and the acquisition of predator recognition by salmonid fishes |
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Authors: | Maud C O Ferrari Meaghan A Vavrek Chris K Elvidge Bryan Fridman Douglas P Chivers Grant E Brown |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Biology, University of Saskatchewan, 112 Science Place, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7N 5E2;(2) Department of Biology, Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H4B 1R6 |
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Abstract: | Following disturbance, some aquatic prey species release chemicals that act as a warning cue and increase vigilance in nearby
conspecifics. Such disturbance cues evoke consistent low intensity anti-predator responses. In contrast, alarm cues from injured
conspecifics often evoke stronger intensity responses in prey animals. In this study, we test the sensory complement hypothesis,
which suggests that multiple cues act in an additive or synergistic fashion to provide additional information for risk assessment
by prey. In the first experiment, we showed that juvenile rainbow trout pre-exposed to disturbance cues respond to a given
concentration of damage-released alarm cues with a higher intensity of response than the trout that were pre-exposed to cues
from undisturbed conspecifics. The two cues acted in an additive fashion. In the second experiment, we demonstrated that disturbance
cues alone were not enough to elicit a conditioned response to the odour of a novel predator. We also showed that while disturbance
cues elicit an increase in the response of trout to alarm cues, this increase does not translate into a stronger learned response
to the predator when the predator odour is paired with alarm cues. Future studies should take into account sensory complementation
to avoid underestimating the responses of prey to predators. |
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Keywords: | Disturbance cues Chemical alarm cues Anti-predator behaviour Learned predator recognition Juvenile rainbow trout |
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