ORCID Profile
0000-0001-9289-1645
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Research Topics
In Research Link Australia (RLA), "Research Topics" refer to ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes. These topics are either sourced from ANZSRC FOR and SEO codes listed in researchers' related grants or generated by a large language model (LLM) based on their publications.
Top 5 Research Topics
ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)
Ecology | Marine And Estuarine Ecology (Incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology) | Conservation And Biodiversity | Community Ecology | Environmental Science and Management | Global Change Biology | Environment And Resource Economics | Ecology And Evolution Not Elsewhere Classified | Environmental Management And Rehabilitation | Parasitology | Other Biological Sciences | Population And Ecological Genetics | Environmental Chemistry (Incl. Atmospheric Chemistry) | Animal Physiology—Systems | Fisheries Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | Sociobiology And Behavioural Ecology | Behavioural Ecology |
ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)
Living resources (incl. impacts of fishing on non-target species) | Other | Fish not elsewhere classified | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity | Global climate change adaptation measures | Ecosystem Adaptation to Climate Change | Effects of Climate Change and Variability on Australia (excl. Social Impacts) | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management | Integrated (ecosystem) assessment and management | Regional planning
Related Links
Publications
Spatial variability in reef fish distribution, abundance, size and biomass: a multi-scale analysis
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 2001
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS214237
Corrigendum to ‘‘Regulation of protogynous sex change by competition between corticosteroids and androgens: An experimental test using sandperch, Parapercis cylindrica’’ [Horm. Behav. 52 (2007) 540–54
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2009
Degrading habitats and the effect of topographic complexity on risk assessment
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-09-2013
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.793
Parental effects improve escape performance of juvenile reef fish in a high-CO2world
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-02-2014
Abstract: Rising CO 2 levels in the oceans are predicted to have serious consequences for many marine taxa. Recent studies suggest that non-genetic parental effects may reduce the impact of high CO 2 on the growth, survival and routine metabolic rate of marine fishes, but whether the parental environment mitigates behavioural and sensory impairment associated with high CO 2 remains unknown. Here, we tested the acute effects of elevated CO 2 on the escape responses of juvenile fish and whether such effects were altered by exposure of parents to increased CO 2 (transgenerational acclimation). Elevated CO 2 negatively affected the reactivity and locomotor performance of juvenile fish, but parental exposure to high CO 2 reduced the effects in some traits, indicating the potential for acclimation of behavioural impairment across generations. However, acclimation was not complete in some traits, and absent in others, suggesting that transgenerational acclimation does not completely compensate the effects of high CO 2 on escape responses.
Habitat degradation and predators have independent trait-mediated effects on prey
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-10-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-019-51798-2
Abstract: Coral reefs are degrading globally leading to a catastrophic loss of bio ersity. While shifts in the species composition of communities have been well documented associated with habitat change, the mechanisms that underlie change are often poorly understood. Our study experimentally examines the effects of coral degradation on the trait-mediated effects of predators on the morphology, behaviour and performance of a juvenile coral reef fish. Juvenile damselfish were exposed to predators or controls (omnivore or nothing) in seawater that had flowed over either live or dead-degraded coral over a 45d period. No interaction between water source and predator exposure was found. However, fish exposed to degraded water had larger false eyespots relative to the size of their true eyes, and were more active, both of which may lead to a survival advantage. Non-consumptive effects of predators on prey occurred regardless of water source and included longer and deeper bodies, large false eyespots that may distract predator strikes away from the vulnerable head region, and shorter latencies in their response to a simulated predator strike. Research underscores that phenotypic plasticity may assist fishes in coping with habitat degradation and promote greater resilience to habitat change than may otherwise be predicted.
Shifting from Right to Left: The Combined Effect of Elevated CO2 and Temperature on Behavioural Lateralization in a Coral Reef Fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 31-01-2014
Experimental evaluation of the effect of a territorial damselfish on foraging behaviour of roving herbivores on coral reefs
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2018
Crucial knowledge gaps in current understanding of climate change impacts on coral reef fishes
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 15-03-2010
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.037895
Abstract: Expert opinion was canvassed to identify crucial knowledge gaps in current understanding of climate change impacts on coral reef fishes. Scientists that had published three or more papers on the effects of climate and environmental factors on reef fishes were invited to submit five questions that, if addressed, would improve our understanding of climate change effects on coral reef fishes. Thirty-three scientists provided 155 questions, and 32 scientists scored these questions in terms of: (i) identifying a knowledge gap, (ii) achievability, (iii) applicability to a broad spectrum of species and reef habitats, and (iv) priority. Forty-two per cent of the questions related to habitat associations and community dynamics of fish, reflecting the established effects and immediate concern relating to climate-induced coral loss and habitat degradation. However, there were also questions on fish demographics, physiology, behaviour and management, all of which could be potentially affected by climate change. Irrespective of their in idual expertise and background, scientists scored questions from different topics similarly, suggesting limited bias and recognition of a need for greater interdisciplinary and collaborative research. Presented here are the 53 highest-scoring unique questions. These questions should act as a guide for future research, providing a basis for better assessment and management of climate change impacts on coral reefs and associated fish communities.
The hemisphere of fear: the presence of sharks influences the three dimensional behaviour of large mesopredators in a coral reef ecosystem
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-2020
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.06844
High diversity, abundance and distinct fish assemblages on submerged coral reef pinnacles compared to shallow emergent reefs
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-01-2021
Sublethal effects of coral bleaching on an obligate coral feeding butterflyfish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-08-2004
Interspecific differences in how habitat degradation affects escape response
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-03-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-00521-0
Abstract: Degradation of habitats is widespread and a leading cause of extinctions. Our study determined whether the change in the chemical landscape associated with coral degradation affected the way three fish species use olfactory information to optimize their fast-start escape response. Water from degraded coral habitats affected the fast-start response of the three closely-related damselfishes, but its effect differed markedly among species. The Ward’s damselfish ( Pomacentrus wardi ) was most affected by water from degraded coral, and displayed shorter distances covered in the fast-start and slower escape speeds compared to fish in water from healthy coral. In the presence of alarm odours, which indicate an imminent threat, the Ambon damsel ( P. amboinensis ) displayed enhanced fast-start performance in water from healthy coral, but not when in water from degraded coral. In contrast, while the white-tailed damsel ( P. chrysurus ) was similarly primed by its alarm odour, the elevation of fast start performance was not altered by water from degraded coral. These species-specific responses to the chemistry of degraded water and alarm odours suggest differences in the way alarm odours interact with the chemical landscape, and differences in the way species balance information about threats, with likely impacts on the survival of affected species in degraded habitats.
Climate change and the performance of larval coral reef fishes: The interaction between temperature and food availability
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-2013
High rate of prey consumption in a small predatory fish on coral reefs
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-03-2012
Relative influence of predators, competitors and seascape heterogeneity on behaviour and abundance of coral reef mesopredators
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-10-2021
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.08463
Abstract: Determining influences of predation and competition on community dynamics is particularly challenging in coral reef systems where interspecific interactions between many predator and prey species play out in patchy landscapes. We used ~1000 stereo‐baited remote underwater video deployments (stereo‐BRUVs) to assess the relative abundance and analysed the behaviour of two size classes of mesopredatory teleosts (lutajnids, serranids, lethrinids) in the presence and absence of larger predators (mesopredatory and apex carcharhinids). For mesopredatory teleosts, the presence of sharks did not influence the abundance, time of arrival in vicinity of the stereo‐BRUVs, the probability of feeding on bait or the delay to feeding. Instead, the number of similar‐sized competitors and surrounding habitat features were the strongest drivers of these behavioural metrics. We suggest that for most fishes, the predatory threat posed by highly mobile species such as sharks is likely to be sporadic and transitory, whereas competition is ubiquitous and ever present, particularly for schooling taxa. Ultimately, it is likely that both processes interact to determine behavioural phenotypes as in iduals that are inferior competitors can be displaced from safe habitats or prohibited from access to resources and will be more susceptible to predation. Future studies should consider the relative effects of both processes and the degree to which each can be shaped by habitat when investigating trophic dynamics that regulate marine communities.
Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for parentage analyses of the coral reef damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis: Pomacentridae)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-11-2006
Boat noise impacts risk assessment in a coral reef fish but effects depend on engine type
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2018
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-22104-3
Abstract: Human noise pollution has increased markedly since the start of industrialization and there is international concern about how this may impact wildlife. Here we determined whether real motorboat noise affected the behavior, space use and escape response of a juvenile damselfish ( Pomacentrus wardi ) in the wild, and explored whether fish respond effectively to chemical and visual threats in the presence of two common types of motorboat noise. Noise from 30 hp 2-stroke outboard motors reduced boldness and activity of fish on habitat patches compared to ambient reef-sound controls. Fish also no longer responded to alarm odours with an antipredator response, instead increasing activity and space use, and fewer fish responded appropriately to a looming threat. In contrast, while there was a minor influence of noise from a 30 hp 4-stroke outboard on space use, there was no influence on their ability to respond to alarm odours, and no impact on their escape response. Evidence suggests that anthropogenic noise impacts the way juvenile fish assess risk, which will reduce in idual fitness and survival, however, not all engine types cause major effects. This finding may give managers options by which they can reduce the impact of motorboat noise on inshore fish communities.
Vessel noise affects routine swimming and escape response of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 23-07-2020
Limiting motorboat noise on coral reefs boosts fish reproductive success
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-05-2022
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-022-30332-5
Abstract: Anthropogenic noise impacts are pervasive across taxa, ecosystems and the world. Here, we experimentally test the hypothesis that protecting vulnerable habitats from noise pollution can improve animal reproductive success. Using a season-long field manipulation with an established model system on the Great Barrier Reef, we demonstrate that limiting motorboat activity on reefs leads to the survival of more fish offspring compared to reefs experiencing busy motorboat traffic. A complementary laboratory experiment isolated the importance of noise and, in combination with the field study, showed that the enhanced reproductive success on protected reefs is likely due to improvements in parental care and offspring length. Our results suggest noise mitigation could have benefits that carry through to the population-level by increasing adult reproductive output and offspring growth, thus helping to protect coral reefs from human impacts and presenting a valuable opportunity for enhancing ecosystem resilience.
In hot water: sustained ocean warming reduces survival of a low-latitude coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-03-2018
Priority species to support the functional integrity of coral reefs
Publisher: CRC Press
Date: 15-11-2020
Determining trigger values of suspended sediment for behavioral changes in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2013
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2013.02.014
Abstract: Sediment from land use increases water turbidity and threatens the health of inshore coral reefs. This study performed experiments with a damselfish, Pomacentrus moluccensis, in four sediment treatments, control (0 mg l⁻¹), 10 mg l⁻¹ (∼1.7 NTU), 20 mg l⁻¹ (∼3.3 NTU) and 30 mg l⁻¹ (∼5 NTU), to determine when sediment triggers a change in habitat use and movement. We reviewed the literature to assess how frequently P. moluccensis would experience sub-optimal sediment conditions on the reef. Preference for live coral declined from 49.4% to 23.3% and movement between habitats declined from 2.1 to 0.4 times between 20 mg l⁻¹ and 30 mg l⁻¹, suggesting a sediment threshold for behavioral changes. Inshore areas of the Great Barrier Reef, P. moluccensis may encounter sub-optimal conditions between 8% and 53% of the time. Changes in these vital processes may have long-term effects on the persistence of populations, particularly as habitat loss on coral reefs increases.
Effects of Ocean Acidification on Learning in Coral Reef Fishes
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-02-2012
Living in mixed species groups promotes predator learning in degraded habitats
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-09-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-021-98224-0
Abstract: Living in mix-species aggregations provides animals with substantive anti-predator, foraging and locomotory advantages while simultaneously exposing them to costs, including increased competition and pathogen exposure. Given each species possess unique morphology, competitive ability, parasite vulnerability and predator defences, we can surmise that each species in mixed groups will experience a unique set of trade-offs. In addition to this unique balance, each species must also contend with anthropogenic changes, a relatively new, and rapidly increasing phenomenon, that adds further complexity to any system. This complex balance of biotic and abiotic factors is on full display in the exceptionally erse, yet anthropogenically degraded, Great Barrier Reef of Australia. One such ex le within this intricate ecosystem is the inability of some damselfish to utilize their own chemical alarm cues within degraded habitats, leaving them exposed to increased predation risk. These cues, which are released when the skin is damaged, warn nearby in iduals of increased predation risk and act as a crucial associative learning tool. Normally, a single exposure of alarm cues paired with an unknown predator odour facilitates learning of that new odour as dangerous. Here, we show that Ambon damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis , a species with impaired alarm responses in degraded habitats, failed to learn a novel predator odour as risky when associated with chemical alarm cues. However, in the same degraded habitats, the same species learned to recognize a novel predator as risky when the predator odour was paired with alarm cues of the closely related, and co-occurring, whitetail damselfish, Pomacentrus chrysurus. The importance of this learning opportunity was underscored in a survival experiment which demonstrated that fish in degraded habitats trained with heterospecific alarm cues, had higher survival than those we tried to train with conspecific alarm cues. From these data, we conclude that redundancy in learning mechanisms among prey guild members may lead to increased stability in rapidly changing environments.
The importance of attitude: The influence of behaviour on survival at an ontogenetic boundary
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 20-05-2010
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS08583
Growth of reef fishes in response to live coral cover
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2009
Algae associated with coral degradation affects risk assessment in coral reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-12-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-17197-1
Abstract: Habitat degradation alters the chemical landscape through which information about community dynamics is transmitted. Olfactory information is crucial for risk assessment in aquatic organisms as predators release odours when they capture prey that lead to an alarm response in conspecific prey. Recent studies show some coral reef fishes are unable to use alarm odours when surrounded by dead-degraded coral. Our study examines the spatial and temporal dynamics of this alarm odour-nullifying effect, and which substratum types may be responsible. Field experiments showed that settlement-stage damselfish were not able to detect alarm odours within 2 m downcurrent of degraded coral, and that the antipredator response was re-established 20–40 min after transferral to live coral. Laboratory experiments indicate that the chemicals from common components of the degraded habitats, the cyanobacteria, Okeania sp., and diatom, Pseudo-nitzschia sp.prevented an alarm odour response. The same nullifying effect was found for the common red algae, Galaxauria robusta , suggesting that the problem is of a broader nature than previously realised. Those fish species best able to compensate for a lack of olfactory risk information at key times will be those potentially most resilient to the effects of coral degradation that operate through this mechanism.
Thermal environment and nutritional condition affect the efficacy of chemical alarm cues produced by prey fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-08-2016
Acoustic enrichment can enhance fish community development on degraded coral reef habitat
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-11-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41467-019-13186-2
Abstract: Coral reefs worldwide are increasingly damaged by anthropogenic stressors, necessitating novel approaches for their management. Maintaining healthy fish communities counteracts reef degradation, but degraded reefs smell and sound less attractive to settlement-stage fishes than their healthy states. Here, using a six-week field experiment, we demonstrate that playback of healthy reef sound can increase fish settlement and retention to degraded habitat. We compare fish community development on acoustically enriched coral-rubble patch reefs with acoustically unmanipulated controls. Acoustic enrichment enhances fish community development across all major trophic guilds, with a doubling in overall abundance and 50% greater species richness. If combined with active habitat restoration and effective conservation measures, rebuilding fish communities in this manner might accelerate ecosystem recovery at multiple spatial and temporal scales. Acoustic enrichment shows promise as a novel tool for the active management of degraded coral reefs.
Ocean acidification reverses competition for space as habitats degrade
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-11-2013
DOI: 10.1038/SREP03280
Parents know best: transgenerational predator recognition through parental effects
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 18-06-2020
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.9340
Abstract: In highly bio erse systems, such as coral reefs, prey species are faced with predatory threats from numerous species. Recognition of predators can be innate, or learned, and can help increase the chance of survival. Research suggests that parental exposure to increased predatory threats can affect the development, behaviour, and ultimately, success of their offspring. Breeding pairs of damselfish ( Acanthochromis polyacanthus ) were subjected to one of three olfactory and visual treatments (predator, herbivore, or control), and their developing embryos were subsequently exposed to five different chemosensory cues. Offspring of parents assigned to the predator treatment exhibited a mean increase in heart rate two times greater than that of offspring from parents in herbivore or control treatments. This increased reaction to a parentally known predator odour suggests that predator-treated parents passed down relevant threat information to their offspring, via parental effects. This is the first time transgenerational recognition of a specific predator has been confirmed in any species. This phenomenon could influence predator-induced mortality rates and enable populations to adaptively respond to fluctuations in predator composition and environmental changes.
Learning Temporal Patterns of Risk in a Predator-Diverse Environment
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-04-2012
Individual consistency in the behaviors of newly-settled reef fish
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 14-05-2015
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.961
Parasite infection directly impacts escape response and stress levels in fish
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2020
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.230904
Abstract: Parasites can account for a substantial proportion of the biomass in marine communities. As such, parasites play a significant ecological role in ecosystem functioning via host interactions. Unlike macropredators, such as large piscivores, micropredators rarely cause direct mortality. Rather, micropredators impose an energetic tax, thus significantly affecting host physiology and behaviour via such sublethal effects. Recent research suggests that infection by gnathiid isopods (Crustacea) causes significant physiological stress and increased mortality rates. However, it is unclear whether infection causes changes in the behaviours that underpin escape responses or changes in routine activity levels. Moreover, it is poorly understood whether the cost of gnathiid infection manifests as an increase in cortisol. To investigate this, we examined the effect of experimental gnathiid infection on the swimming and escape performance of a newly settled coral reef fish and whether infection would lead to increased cortisol levels. We found that micropredation by a single gnathiid caused fast-start escape performance and swimming behaviour to significantly decrease and cortisol levels to double. Fast-start escape performance is an important predictor of recruit survival in the wild. As such, altered fitness related traits and short-term stress, perhaps especially during early life stages, may result in large scale changes in the number of fish that successfully recruit to adult populations.
Habitat selection and aggression as determinants of spatial segregation among damselfish on a coral reef
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2001
At odds with the group: changes in lateralization and escape performance reveal conformity and conflict in fish schools
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 26-10-2016
Abstract: Many vertebrates are known to show behavioural lateralization, whereby they differentially use one side of their body or either of their bilateral organs or limbs. Behavioural lateralization often manifests in a turning bias in fishes, with some in iduals showing a left bias and others a right bias. Such biases could be the source of considerable conflict in fish schools given that there may be considerable social pressure to conform to the group to maintain effective group evasion. Here, we show that predation pressure is a major determinant of the degree of lateralization, both in a relative and absolute sense, in yellow-and-blueback fusiliers ( Caesio teres ), a schooling fish common on coral reefs. Wild-caught fish showed a bias for right turning. When predation pressure was experimentally elevated or relaxed, the strength of lateralization changed. Higher predation pressure resulted in an increase in the strength of lateralization. In iduals that exhibited the same turning bias as the majority of in iduals in their group had improved escape performance compared with in iduals that were at odds with the group. Moreover, in iduals that were right-biased had improved escape performance, compared with left-biased ones. Plasticity in lateralization might be an important evolutionary consequence of the way gregarious species respond to predators owing to the probable costs associated with this behaviour.
Kin recognition in embryonic damselfishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-04-2017
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.03597
Habitat degradation negatively affects auditory settlement behavior of coral reef fishes
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 30-04-2018
Abstract: Climate change is causing widespread damage to the world’s tropical coral reefs, via increases in cyclones and mass bleaching. Healthy populations of reef fishes facilitate recovery from such events, and recruitment of juvenile fish is influenced by acoustic cues that guide larval orientation, habitat selection, and settlement to reefs. Our matched recordings of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef before and after recent severe degradation demonstrate major changes to natural reef sound. In field experiments using these recordings, we show the potential impact of such acoustic changes. Postdegradation reef sounds were less attractive to young fishes than their predegradation equivalents. Reductions in fish settlement, caused by acoustic changes, may threaten the recovery potential of degraded coral reefs.
The role of chemical alarm signals in facilitating learned recognition of novel chemical cues in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2005
Relative influence of environmental factors on the timing and occurrence of multi-species coral reef fish aggregations
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 21-12-2018
Prior residency improves the performance of a habitat specialist in a degrading environment
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-02-2022
DOI: 10.1007/S00338-022-02229-8
Abstract: The effect of habitat loss on the decline of habitat specialists has been well documented in coral reef fishes, since they have a restricted habitat preference. However, the different competitive advantages of specialists and generalists can impact their performance within varying habitat conditions. The order in which species arrive into a community influences competitive outcomes these ‘priority effects’ may modify communities within degrading resource scenarios as in iduals migrate in search of higher quality resources. In this study, we investigated: how sequence and timing of arrival affects interactions between a habitat generalist and a specialist in healthy and degrading environments, and how prior residency interacts with habitat quality and species identity to affect propensity to migrate. We conducted manipulative field studies using the damselfishes Pomacentrus amboinensis , a habitat generalist, and Pomacentrus moluccensis , a live coral specialist, on live or dead coral habitats, with timing of arrival differing between early and late arrivers (residents and intruders, respectively) by 1, 3 or 24 h. Our results demonstrated that the strength of priority effects (i.e., aggression intensity) increased with increasing timing of arrival when the P. moluccensis arrived after P. amboinensis , suggesting that as the perceived value of the habitat patch increased (owing to increasing ownership duration and defence investment), the tendency to defend it increased. Propensity to migrate from dead to live coral was greater for P. moluccensis compared to P. amboinensis however, arriving after P. amboinensis significantly reduced willingness to migrate to its preferred live coral habitat, indicating an inhibitory priority effect, directly affecting future persistence. The degree that ecological versatility and priority effects combine to modify competitive outcomes in coral reef fishes has important consequences for the persistence of specialist species in the face of environmental degradation, and has implications for predicting how our changing environment will affect fish communities.
The basics of acidification: baseline variability of pH on Australian coral reefs
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-05-2010
Reproductive ecology of the temperate reef fish Cheilodactylus spectabilis (Pisces: Cheilodactylidae)
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1989
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS055113
Never Off the Hook—How Fishing Subverts Predator-Prey Relationships in Marine Teleosts
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 16-10-2018
Parental condition affects early life-history of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2008
Ecological versatility and its importance for the distribution and abundance of coral reef wrasses
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 08-08-2012
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS09788
Size-selectivity of predatory reef fish on juvenile prey
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 28-01-2010
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS08337
Quality of the reef fish Upeneus tragula (Mullidae) at settlement: Is size a good indicator of condition?
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1993
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS098045
Coral reef fish incorporate multiple sources of visual and chemical information to mediate predation risk
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2013
Lethal effects of habitat degradation on fishes through changing competitive advantage
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 18-07-2012
Abstract: Coral bleaching has caused catastrophic changes to coral reef ecosystems around the world with profound ecological, social and economic repercussions. While its occurrence is predicted to increase in the future, we have little understanding of mechanisms that underlie changes in the fish community associated with coral degradation. The present study uses a field-based experiment to examine how the intensity of interference competition between juveniles of two species of damselfish changes as healthy corals degrade through thermal bleaching. The mortality of a damselfish that is a live coral specialist ( Pomacentrus moluccensis ) increased on bleached and dead coral in the presence of the habitat generalist ( Pomacentrus amboinensis ). Increased mortality of the specialist was indirectly owing to enhanced aggression by the generalist forcing the specialist higher up and further away from shelter on bleached and dead coral. Evidence from this study stresses the importance of changing interspecific interactions to community dynamics as habitats change.
Top predators negate the effect of mesopredators on prey physiology
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-04-2016
Replenishment of fish populations is threatened by ocean acidification
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 06-07-2010
Abstract: There is increasing concern that ocean acidification, caused by the uptake of additional CO 2 at the ocean surface, could affect the functioning of marine ecosystems however, the mechanisms by which population declines will occur have not been identified, especially for noncalcifying species such as fishes. Here, we use a combination of laboratory and field-based experiments to show that levels of dissolved CO 2 predicted to occur in the ocean this century alter the behavior of larval fish and dramatically decrease their survival during recruitment to adult populations. Altered behavior of larvae was detected at 700 ppm CO 2 , with many in iduals becoming attracted to the smell of predators. At 850 ppm CO 2 , the ability to sense predators was completely impaired. Larvae exposed to elevated CO 2 were more active and exhibited riskier behavior in natural coral-reef habitat. As a result, they had 5–9 times higher mortality from predation than current-day controls, with mortality increasing with CO 2 concentration. Our results show that additional CO 2 absorbed into the ocean will reduce recruitment success and have far-reaching consequences for the sustainability of fish populations.
Temperature and food availability affect risk assessment in an ectotherm
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2014
Ocean acidification and responses to predators: can sensory redundancy reduce the apparent impacts of elevated CO 2 on fish?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-2013
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.684
Consumption of coral propagules after mass spawning enhances larval quality of damselfish through maternal effects
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-2003
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-003-1247-Y
Abstract: The synchronized spawning of corals in many parts of the Indo-Pacific represents a huge injection of biological material into the waters around reefs. Much of this material is consumed by fishes and filter-feeding invertebrates in the 5 or so days following spawning. The present study is the first to document the effect of the consumption of coral propagules on a population of facultatively planktivorous fish and the transference of physiological condition across generations. The study compares two populations of the damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis that fed to differing degrees on coral propagules for 5 days after the annual mass spawning of corals at Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Wind blew coral slicks over the outer lagoon to the inner lagoon some 1.5 km away. While coral propagules were abundant in the water column in the windward location, they were scarce by the time the water mass reached the inner lagoon. Behavioral observations 2-5 days after coral spawning showed that a significantly higher proportion of P. amboinensis was feeding on coral propagules in the windward location than in the inner lagoon location. Windward location females consumed coral propagules almost exclusively and had fuller guts than females from the inner lagoonal location. Five days after the mass coral spawning, windward location females had a higher condition factor and a larger liver mass relative to body mass compared to females within the inner lagoon or females from both locations 2 months later. Fish eggs laid by the windward location females soon after coral spawning yielded larvae that had 25% larger yolk sacs and 100% larger oil globules than did larvae produced from the females from the inner lagoon location, or larvae produced at either location prior to or well after coral spawning in 2 previous years. Larger yolk sacs and oil globules have been shown to have direct survival benefits in the transition from endogenous to exogenous feeding. A feeding experiment conducted on patch reefs showed that diet supplementation of breeding females with a high lipid food for just 5 min per day was sufficient to significantly increase yolk-sac sizes of newly hatched larvae. Evidence suggests that females gain a fitness advantage from feeding on coral spawn and that this is passed on to their offspring.
Experimental test of the effect of maternal hormones on larval quality of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-03-1999
Abstract: Maternal hormones can play an important role in the development of fish larvae. Levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in females are elevated by social interactions and transferred directly to the yolk of eggs, where they may influence developmental rates. In some vertebrates, prenatal exposure to high levels of testosterone determine early growth rates, social status and reproductive success. The present study examined whether post-fertilization exposure of eggs of the tropical damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis (Pomacentridae), to natural levels of cortisol or testosterone directly affects larval morphology at hatching. Maternal and egg levels of cortisol and testosterone varied widely among clutches of eggs from local populations around Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. The morphology of larvae produced by these local fish populations also varied widely and differed significantly among sites (e.g., standard length: 2.6-3.4 mm yolk sac area: 0.01-0.13 × 10
Temporal constraints on predation risk assessment in a changing world
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
DOI: 10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2014.08.059
Abstract: Habitat degradation takes various forms and likely represents the most significant threat to our global bio ersity. Recently, we have seen considerable attention paid to increasing global CO2 emissions which lead to ocean acidification (OA). Other stressors, such as changing levels of ultraviolet radiation (UVR), also impact bio ersity but have received much less attention in the recent past. Here we examine fundamental questions about temporal aspects of risk assessment by coral reef damselfish and provide critical insights into how OA and UVR influence this assessment. Chemical cues released during a predator attack provide a rich source of information that other prey animals use to mediate their risk of predation and are the basis of the majority of trait-mediated indirect interactions in aquatic communities. However, we have surprisingly limited information about temporal aspects of risk assessment because we lack knowledge about how long chemical cues persist after they are released into the environment. Here, we showed that under ambient CO2 conditions (~385 μatm), alarm cues of ambon damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis) did not degrade within 30 min in the absence of ultraviolet radiation (UVR), but were degraded within 15 min when the CO2 was increased to ~905 μatm. In experiments that used filters to eliminate UVR, we found minimal degradation of alarm cues within 30 min, whereas under ambient UVR conditions, alarm cues were completely degraded within 15 min. Moreover, in the presence of both UVR and elevated CO2, alarm cues were broken down within 5 min. Our results highlight that alarm cues degrade surprisingly quickly under natural conditions and that anthropogenic changes have the potential to dramatically change rates of cue degradation in the wild. This has considerable implications for risk assessment and consequently the importance of trait-mediated indirect interactions in coral-reef communities.
Who wins in the battle for space? The importance of priority, behavioural history and size
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2014
Comparative study of metamorphosis in tropical reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-2002
Impact of micropredatory gnathiid isopods on young coral reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-04-2008
Metamorphosing reef fishes avoid predator scent when choosing a home
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-06-2011
Abstract: Most organisms possess anti-predator adaptations to reduce their risk of being consumed, but little is known of the adaptations prey employ during vulnerable life-history transitions when predation pressures can be extreme. We demonstrate the use of a transition-specific anti-predator adaptation by coral reef fishes as they metamorphose from pelagic larvae to benthic juveniles, when over half are consumed within 48 h. Our field experiment shows that naturally settling damselfish use olfactory, and most likely innate, predator recognition to avoid settling to habitat patches manipulated to emit predator odour. Settlement to patches emitting predator odour was on average 24–43% less than to control patches. Evidence strongly suggests that this avoidance of sedentary and patchily distributed predators by nocturnal settlers will gain them a survival advantage, but also lead to non-lethal predator effects: the costs of exhibiting anti-predator adaptations. Transition-specific anti-predator adaptations, such as demonstrated here, may be widespread among organisms with complex life cycles and play an important role in prey population dynamics.
Location influences size-selective predation on newly settled reef fish
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 18-07-2006
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS317203
Rapid larval growth predisposes sex change and sexual size dimorphism in a protogynous hermaphrodite, Parapercis snyderi Jordan & Starks 1905
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-10-2007
Chemical alarm cues inform prey of predation threat: the importance of ontogeny and concentration in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2011
Reef-wide evidence that the presence of sharks modifies behaviors of teleost mesopredators
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECS2.3301
Survival against the odds: Ontogenetic changes in selective pressure mediate growth-mortality trade-offs in a marine fish
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 17-04-2007
Abstract: For organisms with complex life cycles, variation among in iduals in traits associated with survival in one life-history stage can strongly affect the performance in subsequent stages with important repercussions on population dynamics. To identify which in idual attributes are the most influential in determining patterns of survival in a cohort of reef fish, we compared the characteristics of Pomacentrus amboinensis surviving early juvenile stages on the reef with those of the cohort from which they originated. In iduals were collected at hatching, the end of the planktonic phase, and two, three, four, six and eight weeks post-settlement. Information stored in the otoliths of in idual fish revealed strong carry-over effects of larval condition at hatching on juvenile survival, weeks after settlement (i.e. smaller-is-better). Among the traits examined, planktonic growth history was, by far, the most influential and long-lasting trait associated with juvenile persistence in reef habitats. However, otolith increments suggested that larval growth rate may not be maintained during early juvenile life, when selective mortality swiftly reverses its direction. These changes in selective pressure may mediate growth-mortality trade-offs between predation and starvation risks during early juvenile life. Ontogenetic changes in the shape of selectivity may be a mechanism maintaining phenotypic variation in growth rate and size within a population.
Effect of elevated CO2and small boat noise on the kinematics of predator–prey interactions
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 21-03-2018
Abstract: Oceans of the future are predicted to be more acidic and noisier, particularly along the productive coastal fringe. This study examined the independent and combined effects of short-term exposure to elevated CO 2 and boat noise on the predator–prey interactions of a pair of common coral reef fishes ( Pomacentrus wardi and its predator, Pseudochromis fuscus ). Successful capture of prey by predators was the same regardless of whether the pairs had been exposed to ambient control conditions, the addition of either playback of boat noise, elevated CO 2 (925 µatm) or both stressors simultaneously. The kinematics of the interaction were the same for all stressor combinations and differed from the controls. The effects of CO 2 or boat noise were the same, suggesting that their effects were substitutive in this situation. Prey reduced their perception of threat under both stressors in idually and when combined, and this coincided with reduced predator attack distances and attack speeds. The lack of an additive or multiplicative effect when both stressors co-occurred was notable given the different mechanisms involved in sensory disruptions and highlights the importance of determining the combined effects of key drivers to aid in predicting community dynamics under future environmental scenarios.
Size-related mortality due to gnathiid isopod micropredation correlates with settlement size in coral reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-01-2017
Marine mollusc predator-escape behaviour altered by near-future carbon dioxide levels
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-01-2014
Abstract: Ocean acidification poses a range of threats to marine invertebrates however, the potential effects of rising carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) on marine invertebrate behaviour are largely unknown. Marine gastropod conch snails have a modified foot and operculum allowing them to leap backwards rapidly when faced with a predator, such as a venomous cone shell. Here, we show that projected near-future seawater CO 2 levels (961 µatm) impair this escape behaviour during a predator–prey interaction. Elevated-CO 2 halved the number of snails that jumped from the predator, increased their latency to jump and altered their escape trajectory. Physical ability to jump was not affected by elevated-CO 2 indicating instead that decision-making was impaired. Antipredator behaviour was fully restored by treatment with gabazine, a GABA antagonist of some invertebrate nervous systems, indicating potential interference of neurotransmitter receptor function by elevated-CO 2 , as previously observed in marine fishes. Altered behaviour of marine invertebrates at projected future CO 2 levels could have potentially far-reaching implications for marine ecosystems.
Mating behaviour and postcopulatory fertilization patterns in the southern blue-ringed octopus, &ITHapalochlaena maculosa&IT
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2018
Generalization of learned predator recognition in coral reef ecosystems: how cautious are damselfish?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-02-2013
Positive indirect effects of top‐predators on the behaviour and survival of juvenile fishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-11-2020
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.07731
Ultimate Predators: Lionfish Have Evolved to Circumvent Prey Risk Assessment Abilities
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-10-2013
Coral decline threatens fish biodiversity in marine reserves
Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Date: 18-05-2004
Abstract: The worldwide decline in coral cover has serious implications for the health of coral reefs. But what is the future of reef fish assemblages? Marine reserves can protect fish from exploitation, but do they protect fish bio ersity in degrading environments? The answer appears to be no, as indicated by our 8-year study in Papua New Guinea. A devastating decline in coral cover caused a parallel decline in fish bio ersity, both in marine reserves and in areas open to fishing. Over 75% of reef fish species declined in abundance, and 50% declined to less than half of their original numbers. The greater the dependence species have on living coral as juvenile recruitment sites, the greater the observed decline in abundance. Several rare coral-specialists became locally extinct. We suggest that fish bio ersity is threatened wherever permanent reef degradation occurs and warn that marine reserves will not always be sufficient to ensure their survival.
Suspended sediment prolongs larval development in a coral reef fish
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2014
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.094409
Abstract: Increasing sediment input into coastal environments is having a profound influence on shallow marine habitats and associated species. Coral reef ecosystems appear to be particularly sensitive, with increased sediment deposition and re-suspension being associated with declines in the abundance and ersity of coral reef fishes. While recent research has demonstrated that suspended sediment can have negative impacts on post-settlement coral reef fishes, its effect on larval development has not been investigated. In this study, we tested the effects of different levels of suspended sediment on larval growth and development time in Amphiprion percula, a coral reef damselfish. Larvae were subjected to four experimental concentrations of suspended sediment spanning the range found around coastal coral reefs (0-45 mg L-1). Larval duration was significantly longer in all sediment treatments (~12.5d) compared to the average larval duration in the control treatment (11d). Approximately three quarters of the fish in the control had settled by day 11, compared to only 40-46% among the sediment treatments. In the highest sediment treatment, some in iduals had a larval duration twice that of the mean median duration in the control treatment. Unexpectedly, in the low sediment treatment, fish at settlement were significantly were longer and heavier compared to the other treatments, suggesting delayed development was independent of in idual condition. A sediment-induced extension of the pelagic larval stage could significantly reduce numbers of larvae competent to settle, and in turn, have major effects on adult population dynamics.
Elevated CO2 Affects Predator-Prey Interactions through Altered Performance
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 06-03-2013
Diet cues and their utility for risk assessment in degraded habitats
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
Cleaner wrasse influence habitat selection of young damselfish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-12-2015
Coral degradation and the structure of tropical reef fish communities
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 12-03-2007
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS333243
Nocturnal mating behaviour and dynamic male investment of copulation time in the southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)
Publisher: Brill
Date: 2015
DOI: 10.1163/1568539X-00003321
Abstract: The southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa Hoyle (1883), is a nocturnal species that exhibits a mating system in which females hold sperm from multiple males over a one to two month breeding window before laying a single egg clutch. Contrary to most studied animal mating systems where anisogamy exists, gamete package production is limited for both males and females of this species (approx. 50 spermatophores/eggs). This presents an animal model for studying aspects of sperm competition and dynamic mate choice behaviours. The present study reports on the mating behaviour of H. maculosa observed under laboratory conditions using infrared closed-circuit television video footage. Rates of male copulation attempts increased with male size, while female receptivity to mating attempts increased with female size, resulting in larger animals of both sexes gaining more copulations and spending more time per day in copulation. There was some evidence of female preference of larger males, but no male preference of females based on measured morphological traits. Both sexes terminated copulations in equal frequencies but male-terminated copulations were significantly shorter in duration. Males were more likely to terminate copulation early with females they had previously mated with, however were less likely to do so if the female had recently mated with a different male. Among male-terminated copulations, males mated for longer with females that had previously mated with other males in the trial. Male–male mounts were as common as male–female mounts, suggesting that male H. maculosa are not able to discriminate the sex of conspecifics. These findings suggest male strategic allocation of spermatophores based female mating history is an important factor influencing mating behaviours of this species.
Growth history and intrinsic factors influence risk assessment at a critical life transition for a fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-05-2011
Resource use and impact of three herbivorous damselfishes on coral reef communities
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 20-12-2006
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS328215
Warming has a greater effect than elevated CO2on predator–prey interactions in coral reef fish
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 28-06-2017
Abstract: Ocean acidification and warming, driven by anthropogenic CO 2 emissions, are considered to be among the greatest threats facing marine organisms. While each stressor in isolation has been studied extensively, there has been less focus on their combined effects, which could impact key ecological processes. We tested the independent and combined effects of short-term exposure to elevated CO 2 and temperature on the predator–prey interactions of a common pair of coral reef fishes ( Pomacentrus wardi and its predator, Pseudochromis fuscus ). We found that predator success increased following independent exposure to high temperature and elevated CO 2 . Overall, high temperature had an overwhelming effect on the escape behaviour of the prey compared with the combined exposure to elevated CO 2 and high temperature or the independent effect of elevated CO 2 . Exposure to high temperatures led to an increase in attack and predation rates. By contrast, we observed little influence of elevated CO 2 on the behaviour of the predator, suggesting that the attack behaviour of P. fuscus was robust to this environmental change. This is the first study to address how the kinematics and swimming performance at the basis of predator–prey interactions may change in response to concurrent exposure to elevated CO 2 and high temperatures and represents an important step to forecasting the responses of interacting species to climate change.
Development of nine microsatellite markers for Pomacentrus amboinensis
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-10-2008
DOI: 10.1111/J.1755-0998.2008.02295.X
Abstract: The relatively long pelagic larval duration of Pomacentrus amboinensis, a tropical fish, suggests the potential for long-distance dispersal however, several nongenetic studies have found substantial self-recruitment at one location. To analyse patterns of connectivity of this species, primers for nine independent microsatellite loci were developed for P. amboinensis using a magnetic bead enrichment protocol. Twenty in iduals from one location were analysed and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.7 to 0.95. Eight of nine loci were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium and no evidence of linkage or null alleles were found.
Extended exposure to elevated temperature affects escape response behaviour in coral reef fishes
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 18-08-2017
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.3652
Abstract: The threat of predation, and the prey’s response, are important drivers of community dynamics. Yet environmental temperature can have a significant effect on predation avoidance techniques such as fast-start performance observed in marine fishes. While it is known that temperature increases can influence performance and behaviour in the short-term, little is known about how species respond to extended exposure during development. We produced a startle response in two species of damselfish, the lemon damsel Pomacentrus moluccensis, and the Ambon damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis, by the repeated use of a drop stimulus. We show that the length of thermal exposure of juveniles to elevated temperature significantly affects this escape responses . Short-term (4d) exposure to warmer temperature affected directionality and responsiveness for both species. After long-term (90d) exposure, only P. moluccensis showed beneficial plasticity, with directionality returning to control levels. Responsiveness also decreased in both species, possibly to compensate for higher temperatures. There was no effect of temperature or length of exposure on latency to react, maximum swimming speed, or escape distance suggesting that the physical ability to escape was maintained. Evidence suggests that elevated temperature may impact some fish species through its effect on the behavioural responses while under threat rather than having a direct influence on their physical ability to perform an effective escape response.
Frequency and distribution of melanistic morphs in coexisting population of nine clownfish species in Papua New Guinea
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-09-2016
Variability in age and size at settlement of the tropicai goatfish Upeneus trayula (Mullidae) in the northern Great Barrier Reef lagoon
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1994
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS103001
Author Correction: Near-future carbon dioxide levels alter fish behaviour by interfering with neurotransmitter function
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-06-2020
The effect of metabolic phenotype on sociability and social group size preference in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-05-2021
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.7672
Abstract: Although in iduals within social groups experience reduced predation risk and find food patches more consistently, there can be competition for food among groupmates. In iduals with a higher standard metabolic rate (SMR) may be less social, to prioritize food acquisition over defense, while a greater maximum metabolic rate (MMR) may modulate sociability through increased competitive ability. Therefore, in theory, in iduals with a higher SMR may prefer smaller groups and those with greater MMR may prefer larger groups. We examined links among metabolic phenotype, sociability, and choice of group size in the redbelly yellowtail fusilier Caesio cuning . In iduals were exposed to three association tests: (a) a choice between two fish or zero fish (b) a choice between five fish or zero fish and (c) a choice between two fish and five fish. The first two tests quantified sociability while the third measured relative group size choice. Although there was no link between SMR and sociability, fish with a higher MMR were more social than those in iduals with a lower MMR. While no correlation was found between MMR and group size choice, there was weak evidence that, if anything, in iduals with a higher SMR preferred larger groups, contrary to our hypothesis. As C . cuning is an active fish that spends a large proportion of time operating above SMR, this result could suggest that the links between sociability and SMR may shift depending on a species’ routine behavior. Links between sociability and MMR may arise if competitive ability allows in iduals to obtain resources within groups. Although metabolic traits had no significant influence on group size choice, variation in food availability or predation risk could alter the effects of metabolism on group size choice.
Post-settlement transition in coral reef fishes:overlooked complexity in niche shifts
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1997
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS153247
Exposure to degraded coral habitat depresses oxygen uptake rate during exercise of a juvenile reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-05-2021
Fish ears are sensitive to sex change
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 25-11-2008
Abstract: Many reef fishes change sex during their life. The testing of life-history theory and effective fisheries management therefore relies on our ability to detect when this fundamental transition occurs. This study experimentally illustrates the potential to glean such information from the otolithic bodies of the inner-ear apparatus in the sex-changing fish Parapercis cylindrica . It will now be possible to reconstruct the complete, often complex life history of hermaphroditic in iduals from hatching through to terminal reproductive status. The validation of sex-change associated otolith growth also illustrates the potential for sex-specific sensory displacement. It is possible that sex-changing fishes alter otolith composition, and thus sensory-range specificity, to optimize life history in accordance with their new reproductive mode.
Late pelagic-stage goatfishes: distribution patterns and inferences on schooling behaviour
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-1993
Contrasting hydrodynamic regimes of submerged pinnacle and emergent coral reefs
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-08-2022
DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PONE.0273092
Abstract: Hydrodynamics on coral reefs vary with depth, reef morphology and seascape position. Differences in hydrodynamic regimes strongly influence the structure and function of coral reef ecosystems. Submerged coral reefs on steep-sided, conical bathymetric features like seamounts experience enhanced water circulation as a result of interactions between currents and the abrupt physical structure. There may also be similar interactions between smaller pinnacles and regional water currents in offshore locations (crests 10 m), while shallow reefs (crests m) may be more subject to surface currents driven by wind, waves and tide. Here we tested whether coral pinnacles experienced stronger and more variable currents compared to emergent reefs at the same depth in both nearshore and offshore positions. Current speeds and temperature were monitored for 12 months at 11 reefs, representing the three different reef categories: submerged offshore pinnacles, emergent offshore reefs and emergent nearshore reefs. We found different patterns in current speeds and temperature among reef types throughout the year and between seasons. Submerged pinnacles exhibited stronger, more variable current speeds compared to both near and offshore emergent reefs. We found seasonal changes in current speeds for pinnacle and nearshore reefs but no variation in current strength on offshore reefs. Whilst instantaneous current directions did reflect the seascape position of in idual sites, there was no difference in the directional variability of current speeds between reef types. Annual daily average temperatures at all reef types were not strongly seasonal, changing by less than 2 °C throughout the year. Daily temperature ranges at specific sites however, exhibited considerable variability (annual range of up to 6.5 °C), particularly amongst offshore emergent reefs which experienced the highest temperatures despite greater exposure to regional-scale circulation patterns. Additionally, we found a consistent mismatch between satellite sea surface temperatures and in-situ temperature data, which was on average 2 °C cooler throughout the annual study period. Our results suggest that distinct hydrodynamic processes occur on smaller submerged structures that are physically analogous to seamounts. Our findings highlight important nuances in environmental processes that occur on morphologically distinct coral reef habitats and these are likely to be important drivers for the community dynamics of organisms that inhabit these reefs.
Impacts of increased ocean temperatures on a low-latitude coral reef fish – Processes related to oxygen uptake and delivery
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.JTHERBIO.2018.12.008
Abstract: Increasing temperatures are expected to significantly affect the physiological performance of ectotherms, particularly in tropical locations. The shape of an organism's thermal reaction norm can provide important information on its capacity to persist under climate change scenarios however, difficulty lies in choosing a measurable trait that best depicts physiological performance. This study investigated the effects of elevated temperatures on processes related to oxygen uptake and delivery, including oxygen consumption, haematology, and tissue health for a low-latitude population of coral reef damselfish. Acanthochromis polyacanthus were collected from the Torres Strait (10°31-46'S, 142°20-35'E) and maintained at current average ocean temperatures (+0 °C seasonally cycling), + 1.5 °C and + 3 °C higher than present day temperatures for 10 months. Aerobic performance indicated a limit to metabolic function at + 3 °C (33 °C), following an increase in aerobic capacity at + 1.5 °C (31.5 °C). Neither haematological parameters nor gill morphology showed the same improvement in performance at + 1.5 °C. Gill histopathology provided the first indicator of a decline in organism health, which corresponded with mortality observations from previous research. Findings from this study suggest thermal specialisation in this low-latitude population as well as variation in thermal sensitivity, depending on the physiological trait.
Regulation of protogynous sex change by competition between corticosteroids and androgens: An experimental test using sandperch, Parapercis cylindrica
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2007
DOI: 10.1016/J.YHBEH.2007.07.008
Abstract: Cortisol, the dominant corticosteroid in fish, and 11-ketotestosterone (11KT), the most potent androgen in fish, are both synthesized and (or) deactivated by the same two enzymes, 11beta-hydroxylase and 11beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase. Cortisol is synthesized in response to stress (such as that caused by interaction with a dominant conspecific), whereas 11KT is synthesized during protogynous sex change. It has been hypothesized that corticosteroids (such as cortisol) inhibit 11KT synthesis via substrate competition, thereby providing a mechanism for the regulation of socially mediated, protogynous sex change. We tested this hypothesis by administering cortisol (50 microg g(-1) body weight) to female sandperch (Parapercis cylindrica) under social conditions that were permissive to sex change (i.e. in the absence of suppressive male dominance). Twenty-one days later, mean physiological cortisol concentration in cortisol-treated fish was 4.2-fold greater than that in 'socially stressed' female fish maintained in a semi-natural system. Although the dosage of cortisol was therefore considered to be favorable for engendering competitive inhibition of 11KT synthesis, all cortisol-treated fish changed sex, as did all sham-treated and control fish (n=7 fish per treatment). In addition, there was no effect of cortisol treatment on the rate of sex change or on the pattern of steroidogenesis. Thus, our results refute the hypothesis that protogynous sex change is regulated by substrate competition between corticosteroids and androgens.
Learn and live: Predator experience and feeding history determines prey behaviour and survival
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-01-2012
Abstract: Determining how prey learn the identity of predators and match their vigilance with current levels of threat is central to understanding the dynamics of predator–prey systems and the determinants of fitness. Our study explores how feeding history influences the relative importance of olfactory and visual sensory modes of learning, and how the experience gained through these sensory modes influences behaviour and survival in the field for a juvenile coral reef damselfish. We collected young fish immediately prior to their settlement to benthic habitats. In the laboratory, these predator-naïve fish were exposed to a high- or low-food ration and then conditioned to recognize the olfactory cues (odours) and/or visual cues from two common benthic predators. Fish were then allowed to settle on reefs in the field, and their behaviour and survival over 70 h were recorded. Feeding history strongly influenced their willingness to take risks in the natural environment. Conditioning in the laboratory with visual, olfactory or both cues from predators led fish in the field to display risk-averse behaviour compared with fish conditioned with sea water alone. Well-fed fish that were conditioned with visual, chemical or a combination of predator cues survived eight times better over the first 48 h on reefs than those with no experience of benthic predator cues. This experiment highlights the importance of a flexible and rapid mechanism of learning the identity of predators for survival of young fish during the critical life-history transition between pelagic and benthic habitats.
Ontogenetic differences in chemical alarm cue production determine antipredator responses and learned predator recognition
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 17-04-2013
Feeling the heat: the effect of acute temperature changes on predator–prey interactions in coral reef fish
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2015
The effects of parasites on the early life stages of a damselfish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-06-2012
Field verification of the use of chemical alarm cues in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-03-2007
Maternal size, not age, influences egg quality of a wild, protogynous coral reef fish Plectropomus leopardus
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 08-06-2015
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11277
Juvenile damselfish are affected but desensitize to small motor boat noise
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Influence of habitat degradation on fish replenishment
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-04-2010
Temporal patterns in distributions of tropical fish larvae on the North West Shelf of Australia
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2004
DOI: 10.1071/MF03160
Abstract: Information on the temporal distributions of tropical fish larvae is scarce. Early stage larval fishes were s led using towed bongo plankton nets at sites on the southern North West Shelf of Australia (21°49′S, 114°14′E), between October and February of 1997/98 and 1998/99. The first summer was characterised by El Niño–Southern Oscillation-driven upwelling and high primary productivity, whereas in the second summer water temperatures were warmer and primary production was lower. Benthic percoid shorefishes dominated surface assemblages in both summers and this pattern may be typical of tropical shelf environments.The abundance and ersity of larval fishes were lowest in October and increased from November through to February. Assemblages displayed weak cross-shelf patterns, with a few taxa being more abundant at inshore sites (e.g. monacanthids), whereas others were more abundant offshore (e.g. scombrids). Although the composition of assemblages remained relatively consistent, many taxa (e.g. pomacentrids and carangids) showed differences in abundance between summers. Multivariate analyses found no relationships between abundance patterns of larval fishes and biophysical variables, such as temperature, salinity, and zooplankton biomass. Thus, seasonal changes in abundance may reflect differences in the spawning activities of adult fishes and/or larval survival.
Glimpse into guts: Overview of the feeding of larvae of tropical shorefishes
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 06-06-2007
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS339243
Putting prey and predator into the CO 2 equation - qualitative and quantitative effects of ocean acidification on predator-prey interactions
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-09-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1461-0248.2011.01683.X
Abstract: Little is known about the impact of ocean acidification on predator-prey dynamics. Herein, we examined the effect of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) on both prey and predator by letting one predatory reef fish interact for 24 h with eight small or large juvenile damselfishes from four congeneric species. Both prey and predator were exposed to control or elevated levels of CO(2). Mortality rate and predator selectivity were compared across CO(2) treatments, prey size and species. Small juveniles of all species sustained greater mortality at high CO(2) levels, while large recruits were not affected. For large prey, the pattern of prey selectivity by predators was reversed under elevated CO(2). Our results demonstrate both quantitative and qualitative consumptive effects of CO(2) on small and larger damselfish recruits respectively, resulting from CO(2)-induced behavioural changes likely mediated by impaired neurological function. This study highlights the complexity of predicting the effects of climate change on coral reef ecosystems.
Fish feeding on mobile benthic invertebrates: Influence of spatial variability in habitat associations
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 02-1995
DOI: 10.1007/BF00349298
Behavioural measures determine survivorship within the hierarchy of whole‐organism phenotypic traits
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-01-2018
Larval growth history determines juvenile growth and survival in a tropical marine fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-07-2004
Risk assessment via predator diet cues in a coral reef goby
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2012
Elevated carbon dioxide affects behavioural lateralization in a coral reef fish
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 17-08-2011
Abstract: Elevated carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) has recently been shown to affect chemosensory and auditory behaviour, and activity levels of larval reef fishes, increasing their risk of predation. However, the mechanisms underlying these changes are unknown. Behavioural lateralization is an expression of brain functional asymmetries, and thus provides a unique test of the hypothesis that elevated CO 2 affects brain function in larval fishes. We tested the effect of near-future CO 2 concentrations (880 µatm) on behavioural lateralization in the reef fish, Neopomacentrus azysron . In iduals exposed to current-day or elevated CO 2 were observed in a detour test where they made repeated decisions about turning left or right. No preference for right or left turns was observed at the population level. However, in idual control fish turned either left or right with greater frequency than expected by chance. Exposure to elevated-CO 2 disrupted in idual lateralization, with values that were not different from a random expectation. These results provide compelling evidence that elevated CO 2 directly affects brain function in larval fishes. Given that lateralization enhances performance in a number of cognitive tasks and anti-predator behaviours, it is possible that a loss of lateralization could increase the vulnerability of larval fishes to predation in a future high-CO 2 ocean.
Efficacy of passive integrated transponder tags to determine spawning-site visitations by a tropical fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-07-2004
Gender-specific benefits of eating eggs at resident reef fish spawning aggregation sites
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 15-12-2014
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11021
Sexual selection explains sex-specific growth plasticity and positive allometry for sexual size dimorphism in a reef fish
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 24-06-2009
Abstract: In 1950, Rensch noted that in clades where males are the larger sex, sexual size dimorphism (SSD) tends to be more pronounced in larger species. This fundamental allometric relationship is now known as ‘Rensch's rule’. While most researchers attribute Rensch's rule to sexual selection for male size, experimental evidence is lacking. Here, we suggest that ultimate hypotheses for Rensch's rule should also apply to groups of in iduals and that in idual trait plasticity can be used to test those hypotheses experimentally. Specifically, we show that in the sex-changing fish Parapercis cylindrica , larger males have larger harems with larger females, and that SSD increases with harem size. Thus, sexual selection for male body size is the ultimate cause of sexual size allometry. In addition, we experimentally illustrate a positive relationship between polygyny potential and in idual growth rate during sex change from female to male. Thus, sexual selection is the ultimate cause of variation in growth rate, and variation in growth rate is the proximate cause of sexual size allometry. Taken together, our results provide compelling evidence in support of the sexual selection hypothesis for Rensch's rule and highlight the potential importance of in idual growth modification in the shaping of morphological patterns in Nature.
Degradation of chemical alarm cues and assessment of risk throughout the day
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-09-2013
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.760
Maternal condition influences phenotypic selection on offspring
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-12-2007
DOI: 10.1111/J.1365-2656.2006.01187.X
Abstract: 1. Environmentally induced maternal effects are known to affect offspring phenotype, and as a result, the dynamics and evolution of populations across a wide range of taxa. 2. In a field experiment, we manipulated maternal condition by altering food availability, a key factor influencing maternal energy allocation to offspring. We then examined how maternal condition at the time of gametogenesis affects the relationships among early life-history traits and survivorship during early development of the coral reef fish Pomacentrus amboinensis. 3. Maternal condition did not affect the number of embryos that hatched or the number of hatchlings surviving to a set time. 4. We found no significant difference in egg size in relation to the maternal physiological state. However, eggs spawned by supplemented mothers were provisioned with greater energy reserves (yolk-sac and oil globule size) than nonsupplemented counterparts, suggesting that provision of energy reserves rather than egg size more closely reflected the maternal environment. 5. Among offspring originating from supplemented mothers, those with larger yolk-sacs were more likely to successfully hatch and survive for longer periods after hatching. However, among offspring from nonsupplemented mothers, yolk-sac size was either inconsequential to survival or offspring with smaller yolk-sac sizes were favoured. Mothers appear to influence the physiological capacity of their progeny and in turn the efficiency of in idual offspring to utilize endogenous reserves. 6. In summary, our results show that the maternal environment influences the relationship between offspring characteristics and survival and suggest that energy-driven selective mechanisms may operate to determine progeny viability.
Aerobic scope predicts dominance during early life in a tropical damselfish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 16-06-2014
Shoaling reduces metabolic rate in a gregarious coral reef fish species
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 15-09-2016
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.139493
Abstract: Many animals live in groups because of the potential benefits associated with defense and foraging. Group living may also induce a ‘calming effect’ on in iduals, reducing overall metabolic demand. This effect could occur by minimising the need for in idual vigilance and reducing stress through social buffering. However, this effect has proved difficult to quantify. We examined the effect of shoaling on metabolism and body condition in the gregarious damselfish Chromis viridis. Using a novel respirometry methodology for social species, we found that the presence of shoal-mate visual and olfactory cues led to a reduction in the minimum metabolic rate of in iduals. Fish held in isolation for 1 week also exhibited a reduction in body condition when compared with those held in shoals. These results indicate that social isolation as a result of environmental disturbance could have physiological consequences for gregarious species.
The relative influence of abundance and priority effects on colonization success in a coral-reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-09-2016
Predation in High CO2 Waters: Prey Fish from High-Risk Environments are Less Susceptible to Ocean Acidification
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 07-2017
DOI: 10.1093/ICB/ICX030
Abstract: Most studies investigating the effects of anthropogenic environmental stressors do so in conditions that are often optimal for their test subjects, ignoring natural stressors such as competition or predation. As such, the quantitative results from such studies may often underestimate the lethality of certain toxic compounds. A well-known ex le of this concept is illustrated by the marked increase in the lethality of pesticides when larval hibians are concurrently exposed to the odor of potential predators. Here, we investigated the interaction between background levels of environmental predation risk (high vs. low) and ocean acidification (ambient vs. elevated CO2) in 2 × 2 design. Wild-caught juvenile damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis, were exposed in the laboratory to the different risk and CO2 conditions for 4 days and released onto coral reef patches. Using a well-established field assay, we monitored the in situ behavior and mortality of the damselfish for 2 days. We predicted that juvenile fish exposed to elevated CO2 and high-risk conditions would display more severe behavioral impairments and increased mortality compared to fish exposed to elevated CO2 maintained under low-risk conditions. As expected, elevated CO2 exposure led to impaired antipredator responses and increased mortality in low-risk fish compared to ambient CO2 controls. However, we failed to find an effect of elevated CO2 on the behavior and survival of the high-risk fish. We hypothesized that the results may stem from either a behavioral compensation or a physiological response to high risk. Our results provide insights into the interactive nature of environmental and natural stressors and advance our understanding of the predicted effect of ocean acidification on aquatic ecosystems.
Parental environment mediates impacts of increased carbon dioxide on a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-2012
DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1599
Near-future carbon dioxide levels alter fish behaviour by interfering with neurotransmitter function
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-01-2012
DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1352
A negative correlation between behavioural and physiological performance under ocean acidification and warming
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-03-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-018-36747-9
Abstract: Many studies have examined the average effects of ocean acidification and warming on phenotypic traits of reef fishes, finding variable, but often negative effects on behavioural and physiological performance. Yet the presence and nature of a relationship between these traits is unknown. A negative relationship between phenotypic traits could limit in idual performance and even the capacity of populations to adapt to climate change. Here, we examined the relationship between behavioural and physiological performance of a juvenile reef fish under elevated CO 2 and temperature in a full factorial design. Behaviourally, the response to an alarm odour was negatively affected by elevated CO 2 , but not elevated temperature. Physiologically, aerobic scope was significantly diminished under elevated temperature, but not under elevated CO 2 . At the in idual level, there was no relationship between behavioural and physiological traits in the control and single-stressor treatments. However, a statistically significant negative relationship was detected between the traits in the combined elevated CO 2 and temperature treatment. Our results demonstrate that trade-offs in performance between behavioural and physiological traits may only be evident when multiple climate change stressors are considered, and suggest that this negative relationship could limit adaptive potential to climate change.
Genome-wide comparisons reveal a clinal species pattern within a holobenthic octopodthe Australian Southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-01-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.3845
Abstract: The southern blue‐ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Hoyle, 1883) lacks a planktonic dispersal phase, yet ranges across Australia's southern coastline. This species’ brief and holobenthic life history suggests gene flow might be limited, leaving distant populations prone to strong genetic ergence. This study used 17,523 genome‐wide SNP loci to investigate genetic structuring and local adaptation patterns of H. maculosa among eight s ling sites along its reported range. Within sites, interrelatedness was very high, consistent with the limited dispersal of this taxon. However, inbreeding coefficients were proportionally lower among sites where substructuring was not detected, suggesting H. maculosa might possess a mechanism for inbreeding avoidance. Genetic ergence was extremely high among all sites, with the greatest ergence observed between both ends of the distribution, Fremantle, WA, and Stanley, TAS. Genetic distances closely followed an isolation by geographic distance pattern. Outlier analyses revealed distinct selection signatures at all sites, with the strongest ergence reported between Fremantle and the other Western Australian sites. Phylogenetic reconstructions using the described sister taxon H. fasciata (Hoyle, 1886) further supported that the genetic ergence between distal H. maculosa sites in this study was equivalent to that of between established heterospecifics within this genus. However, it is advocated that taxonomic delineations within this species should be made with caution. These data indicate that H. maculosa forms a clinal species pattern across its geographic range, with gene flow present through allele sharing between adjacent populations. Morphological investigations are recommended for a robust resolution of the taxonomic identity and ecotype boundaries of this species.
Ontogeny of diet shifts by a microcarnivorous fish, Cheilodactylus spectabilis: Relationship between feeding mechanics, microhabitat selection and growth
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-08-1998
Simulated maternal pre-spawning stress affects offspring's attributes in farmed Atlantic salmonSalmo salar(Linnaeus, 1758)
Publisher: Hindawi Limited
Date: 21-10-2013
DOI: 10.1111/ARE.12301
Interactions between juvenile marine fish and gnathiid isopods: predation versus micropredation
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 07-04-2008
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS07312
Latitudinal variation in larval development of coral reef fishes: Implications of a warming ocean
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 17-02-2015
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS11136
The effect of climate change on the escape kinematics and performance of fishes: implications for future predator–prey interactions
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2019
Abstract: Climate change can have a pronounced impact on the physiology and behaviour of fishes. Notably, many climate change stressors, such as global warming, hypoxia and ocean acidification (OA), have been shown to alter the kinematics of predator–prey interactions in fishes, with potential effects at ecological levels. Here, we review the main effects of each of these stressors on fish escape responses using an integrative approach that encompasses behavioural and kinematic variables. Elevated temperature was shown to affect many components of the escape response, including escape latencies, kinematics and maximum swimming performance, while the main effect of hypoxia was on escape responsiveness and directionality. OA had a negative effect on the escape response of juvenile fish by decreasing their directionality, responsiveness and locomotor performance, although some studies show no effect of acidification. The few studies that have explored the effects of multiple stressors show that temperature tends to have a stronger effect on escape performance than OA. Overall, the effects of climate change on escape responses may occur through decreased muscle performance and/or an interference with brain and sensory functions. In all of these cases, since the escape response is a behaviour directly related to survival, these effects are likely to be fundamental drivers of changes in marine communities. The overall future impact of these stressors is discussed by including their potential effects on predator attack behaviour, thereby allowing the development of potential future scenarios for predator–prey interactions.
Predator-induced changes in the growth of eyes and false eyespots
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-07-2013
DOI: 10.1038/SREP02259
Abstract: The animal world is full of brilliant colours and striking patterns that serve to hide in iduals or attract the attention of others. False eyespots are pervasive across a variety of animal taxa and are among nature's most conspicuous markings. Understanding the adaptive significance of eyespots has long fascinated evolutionary ecologists. Here we show for the first time that the size of eyespots is plastic and increases upon exposure to predators. Associated with the growth of eyespots there is a corresponding reduction in growth of eyes in juvenile Ambon damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis . These morphological changes likely direct attacks away from the head region. Exposure to predators also induced changes in prey behaviour and morphology. Such changes could prevent or deter attacks and increase burst speed, aiding in escape. Damselfish exposed to predators had drastically higher survival suffering only 10% mortality while controls suffered 60% mortality 72 h after release.
Impaired learning of predators and lower prey survival under elevated CO2: A consequence of neurotransmitter interference
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 14-09-2014
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12291
Abstract: Ocean acidification is one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time, and not surprisingly, we have seen a recent explosion of research into the physiological impacts and ecological consequences of changes in ocean chemistry. We are gaining considerable insights from this work, but further advances require greater integration across disciplines. Here, we showed that projected near-future CO2 levels impaired the ability of damselfish to learn the identity of predators. These effects stem from impaired neurotransmitter function impaired learning under elevated CO2 was reversed when fish were treated with gabazine, an antagonist of the GABA-A receptor - a major inhibitory neurotransmitter receptor in the brain of vertebrates. The effects of CO2 on learning and the link to neurotransmitter interference were manifested as major differences in survival for fish released into the wild. Lower survival under elevated CO2 , as a result of impaired learning, could have a major influence on population recruitment.
Parental effects on offspring life histories: When are they important?
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 06-01-2009
Abstract: Both the parental legacy and current environmental conditions can affect offspring life histories however, their relative importance and the potential relationship between these two influences have rarely been investigated. We tested for the interacting effects of parental and juvenile environments on the early life history of the marine fish Acanthochromis polyacanthus . Juveniles from parents in good condition were longer and heavier at hatching than juveniles from parents in poor condition. Parental effects on juvenile size were evident up to 29 days post-hatching, but disappeared by 50 days. Offspring from good condition parents had higher early survival than offspring from poor-condition parents when reared in a low-food environment. By contrast, parental condition did not affect juvenile survival in the high-food environment. These results suggest that parental effects on offspring performance are most important when poor environmental conditions are encountered by juveniles. Furthermore, parental effects observed at hatching may often be moderated by compensatory mechanisms when environmental conditions are good.
The effects of background risk on behavioural lateralization in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-06-2015
Prey experience of predation influences mortality rates at settlement in a coral reef fish, Pomacentrus amboinensis
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-02-2006
Density-dependent sex ratio adjustment and the Allee effect: A model and a test using a sex-changing fish
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Date: 09-2010
DOI: 10.1086/655219
Abstract: Positive density dependence (i.e., the Allee effect AE) often has important implications for the dynamics and conservation of populations. Here, we show that density-dependent sex ratio adjustment in response to sexual selection may be a common AE mechanism. Specifically, using an analytical model we show that an AE is expected whenever one sex is more fecund than the other and sex ratio bias toward the less fecund sex increases with density. We illustrate the robustness of this pattern, using Monte Carlo simulations, against a range of body size-fecundity relationships and sex-allocation strategies. Finally, we test the model using the sex-changing polygynous reef fish Parapercis cylindrica positive density dependence in the strength of sexual selection for male size is evidenced as the causal mechanism driving local sex ratio adjustment, hence the AE. Model application may extend to invertebrates, reptiles, birds, and mammals, in addition to over 70 reef fishes. We suggest that protected areas may often outperform harvest quotas as a conservation tool since the latter promotes population fragmentation, reduced polygyny, a balancing of the sex ratio, and hence up to a 50% decline in per capita fecundity, while the former maximizes polygyny and source-sink potential.
Not All Offspring Are Created Equal: Variation in Larval Characteristics in a Serially Spawning Damselfish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 14-11-2012
Not worth the risk: apex predators suppress herbivory on coral reefs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 19-03-2014
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.01318
Habitat selection and aggression as determinants of fine-scale partitioning of coral reef zones in a guild of territorial damselfishes
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 25-01-2018
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS12458
Not equal in the face of habitat change: closely related fishes differ in their ability to use predation-related information in degraded coral
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 12-04-2017
Abstract: Coral reefs are bio ersity hotpots that are under significant threat due to the degradation and death of hard corals. When obligate coral-dwelling species die, the remaining species must either move or adjust to the altered conditions. Our goal was to investigate the effect of coral degradation on the ability of coral reef fishes to assess their risk of predation using alarm cues from injured conspecifics. Here, we tested the ability of six closely related species of juvenile damselfish (Pomacentridae) to respond to risk cues in both live coral or dead-degraded coral environments. Of those six species, two are exclusively associated with live coral habitats, two are found mostly on dead-degraded coral rubble, while the last two are found in both habitat types. We found that the two live coral associates failed to respond appropriately to the cues in water from degraded habitats. In contrast, the cue response of the two rubble associates was unaffected in the same degraded habitat. Interestingly, we observed a mixed response from the species found in both habitat types, with one species displaying an appropriate cue response while the other did not. Our second experiment suggested that the lack of responses stemmed from deactivation of the alarm cues, rather than the inability of the species to smell. Habitat preference (live coral versus dead coral associates) and phylogeny are good candidates for future work aimed at predicting which species are affected by coral degradation. Our results point towards a surprising level of variation in the ability of congeneric species to fare in altered habitats and hence underscores the difficulty of predicting community change in degraded habitats.
Stressed mothers - troubled offspring: a study of behavioural maternal effects in farmed Salmo salar
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-08-2011
DOI: 10.1111/J.1095-8649.2011.03036.X
Abstract: Mature female Atlantic salmon Salmo salar were given intraperitoneal cortisol implants 1 week prior to stripping to examine the influence of simulated maternal stress on offspring boldness and social dominance. Behavioural tests originally designed to investigate stress responsiveness and coping styles in salmonids (i.e. feeding in isolation, dominance tests and acute confinement) were carried out on the offspring 1·5 years after hatching. In the feeding test, there were no differences between the two treatment groups in total feeding score or number of pellets eaten, but offspring from the cortisol-implanted females made more unsuccessful feeding attempts than offspring from control females. In dominance tests, there was no difference between controls and cortisol-treated fish regarding propensity to become socially dominant. A higher proportion of in iduals with bite marks, however, was observed in the cortisol group when compared to controls. Cortisol-treated offspring that gained dominant rank in the dominance tests performed more aggressive acts after stable dominance-subordinate relationships were established compared to control winners. During acute confinement stress, offspring from cortisol-implanted females showed a reduction in the proportion of time they were moving compared to the controls. These results indicate that the maternal endocrine state at spawning affects several aspects of progeny behaviour potentially related to subsequent success and survival in farmed S. salar.
Acclimation to predicted ocean warming through developmental plasticity in a tropical reef fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-11-2011
Hormonally mediated maternal effects shape offspring survival potential in stressful environments
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 08-04-2009
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-009-1335-8
Abstract: In most egg-laying vertebrates, maternal responses to stressful conditions are translated into the release of glucocorticoid hormones such as cortisol, which are then transmitted to their developing embryos. Although such maternally transmitted hormonal resources have been shown to influence or even interfere with the optimal developmental trajectories of offspring in many taxa, their influence on the dynamics of wild fish populations remains largely unexplored. Here, we examined the extent to which simulated hormonally mediated maternal effects influence the development and early survival of the coral reef damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. Concentrations of cortisol in the eggs were manipulated within naturally occurring limits by immersion. We found that the proportion of embryos that delayed hatching when exposed to high levels of cortisol was considerably lower than in the other two treatments (low cortisol dose and control). High cortisol levels in P. amboinensis eggs resulted in increased egg mortality and greater asymmetry in hatchlings. For embryos that successfully hatched, in iduals from the elevated cortisol treatments (especially low dose) survived longer after hatching. Although in iduals that originated from eggs with elevated cortisol levels survived longer after hatching, they may not gain an overall survival advantage. Our results suggest that subtle increases in the allocation of maternally derived hormones, such as cortisol, to offspring are a direct way for stressed mothers to endow their young with an immediate survival advantage. We propose that this immediate benefit outweighs the developmental costs which may be expressed as reduced fitness at later life stages.
Predation risk assessment by olfactory and visual cues in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-08-2008
Patterns of migration between feeding and spawning sites in a coral reef surgeonfish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-09-2012
Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 28-10-2020
Abstract: Coral reefs are degrading globally due to increased environmental stressors including warming and elevated levels of pollutants. These stressors affect not only habitat-forming organisms, such as corals, but they may also directly affect the organisms that inhabit these ecosystems. Here, we explore how the dual threat of habitat degradation and microplastic exposure may affect the behaviour and survival of coral reef fish in the field. Fish were caught prior to settlement and pulse-fed polystyrene microplastics six times over 4 days, then placed in the field on live or dead-degraded coral patches. Exposure to microplastics or dead coral led fish to be bolder, more active and stray further from shelter compared to control fish. Effect sizes indicated that plastic exposure had a greater effect on behaviour than degraded habitat, and we found no evidence of synergistic effects. This pattern was also displayed in their survival in the field. Our results highlight that attaining low concentrations of microplastic in the environment will be a useful management strategy, since minimizing microplastic intake by fishes may work concurrently with reef restoration strategies to enhance the resilience of coral reef populations.
Behaviourally Mediated Phenotypic Selection in a Disturbed Coral Reef Environment
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-09-2009
Disrupted learning: habitat degradation impairs crucial antipredator responses in naive prey
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-05-2016
Abstract: Habitat degradation is a global problem and one of the main causes of bio ersity loss. Though widespread, the mechanisms that underlie faunal changes are poorly understood. In tropical marine systems, corals play a crucial role in forming habitat, but coral cover on many reefs is declining sharply. Coral degradation affects the olfactory cues that provide reliable information on the presence and intensity of threat. Here, we show for the first time that the ability of a habitat generalist to learn predators using an efficient and widespread method of predator learning is compromised in degraded coral habitats. Results indicate that chemical alarm cues are no longer indicative of a local threat for the habitat generalist (the damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis ), and these cues can no longer be used to learn the identity of novel predators in degraded habitats. By contrast, a rubble specialist and congeneric ( Pomacentrus coelestis ) responded to olfactory threat cues regardless of background environment and could learn the identity of a novel predator using chemical alarm cues. Understanding how some species can cope with or acclimate to the detrimental impacts of habitat degradation on risk assessment abilities will be crucial to defining the scope of resilience in threatened communities.
Duration of exposure to elevated temperature affects competitive interactions in juvenile reef fishes
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 13-10-2016
Influence of depth on sex-specific energy allocation patterns in a tropical reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-05-2007
Well-informed foraging: damage-released chemical cues of injured prey signal quality and size to predators
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-09-2011
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-011-2116-8
Abstract: Predators use a variety of information sources to locate potential prey, and likewise prey animals use numerous sources of information to detect and avoid becoming the meal of a potential predator. In freshwater environments, chemosensory cues often play a crucial role in such predator rey interactions. The importance of chemosensory information to teleost fish in marine environments is not well understood. Here, we tested whether coral reef fish predators are attracted to damage-released chemical cues from already wounded prey in order to find patches of prey and minimize their own costs of obtaining food. Furthermore, we tested if these chemical cues would convey information about status of the prey. Using y-maze experiments, we found that predatory dottybacks, Pseudochromis fuscus, were more attracted to skin extracts of damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis, prey that were in good condition compared to prey in poor body condition. Moreover, in both the laboratory and field, we found that predators could differentiate between skin extracts from prey based on prey size, showing a greater attraction to extracts made from prey that were the appropriate size to consume. This suggests that predators are not attracted to any general substance released from an injured prey fish instead being capable of detecting and distinguishing relatively small differences in the chemical composition of the skin of their prey. These results have implications for understanding predator foraging strategies and highlights that chemical cues play a complex role in predator-prey interactions in marine fish.
Indirect effects of heterospecific interactions on progeny size through maternal stress
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 28-04-2009
Social facilitation of selective mortality
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-2007
DOI: 10.1890/06-0830
Abstract: Territorial defense by breeders influences access to resources near defended nest sites by intruder species and may have indirect effects on other species within the territory, leading to local patchiness in distribution patterns. The present study demonstrates that adult males of a damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis, indirectly facilitate the increased survival of conspecific juveniles through the territorial defense of their nesting site from potential egg predators. Moreover, male territoriality results in a shift in the selectivity of predation on newly settled juveniles. We monitored the fate of pairs of predator-naive, newly settled P. amboinensis placed inside and outside nesting territories. In iduals within a pair differed in size by approximately 1 mm and were tagged for in idual identification. Away from male territories larger juveniles had greater survival, while within territories, larger juveniles suffered higher mortality. Behavioral observations indicated that the moonwrasse Thalassoma lunare, a predator of benthic eggs and small fishes, had reduced access to juveniles within male territories, while another predator on small fishes, the dottyback Pseudochromis fuscus, had unobstructed access to male territories. Experimental removal of P. fuscus indicated that the shift in the direction of phenotypic selection on newly settled juveniles was the indirect effect of aggression by nest-guarding male damselfish, which resulted in differential access to male territories by these two predators of small fishes. Evidence suggests that behavioral interactions between the resident community and intruders will influence patchiness in selective pressures imposed on benthic prey by influencing both the composition of predator types that can access the prey resource and their relative abundance. How this spatial and temporal patchiness in predator pressure interacts with spatial patchiness of recruiting prey will have a major influence on the resulting distribution of juveniles and their phenotypic traits.
Small-Boat Noise Impacts Natural Settlement Behavior of Coral Reef Fish Larvae
Publisher: Springer New York
Date: 2016
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-4939-2981-8_129
Abstract: After a pelagic larval phase, settlement-stage coral reef fish must locate a suitable reef habitat for juvenile life. Reef noise, produced by resident fish and invertebrates, provides an important cue for orientation and habitat selection during this process, which must often occur in environments impacted by anthropogenic noise. We adapted an established field-based protocol to test whether recorded boat noise influenced the settlement behavior of reef fish. Fewer fish settled to patch reefs broadcasting boat + reef noise compared with reef noise alone. This study suggests that boat noise, now a common feature of many reefs, can compromise critical settlement behavior of reef fishes.
Socially acquired predator recognition in complex ecosystems
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-04-2013
Effects of boat noise on fish fast-start escape response depend on engine type
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-04-2019
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-019-43099-5
Abstract: Vessel noise represents a relatively recent but rapidly increasing form of pollution, which affects the many organisms that use sound to inform their behavioural decisions. Recent research shows that anthropogenic noise can lead to reduced responsiveness to risk and higher mortality. The current laboratory experiment determined whether the playback of noise from motorboats powered by two- or four-stroke outboard engines affected the kinematics of the fast-start response in a juvenile coral reef fish, and the time scale over which the effects may occur. Results show that the two engine types produce slightly different sound spectra, which influence fish differently. Playback of 2-stroke engines had the greatest effect on activity, but only for a brief period (45 s). While noise from 4-stroke outboard engines affected fast-start kinematics, they had half the impact of noise from 2-stroke engines. Two-stroke engine noise affected routine swimming more than 4-stroke engines, while 4-stroke noise had a greater effect on the speed at which fish responded to a startle. Evidence suggests that the source of the noise pollution will have a major influence on the way marine organisms will respond, and this gives managers an important tool whereby they may reduce the effects of noise pollution on protected communities.
Reproductive periodicity and steroid hormone profiles in the sex-changing coral-reef fish, Plectropomus leopardus
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-02-2007
Living in a risky world: the onset and ontogeny of an integrated antipredator phenotype in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-10-2015
DOI: 10.1038/SREP15537
Abstract: Prey in iduals with complex life-histories often cannot predict the type of risk environment to which they will be exposed at each of their life stages. Because the level of investment in defences should match local risk conditions, we predict that these in iduals should have the ability to modulate the expression of an integrated defensive phenotype, but this switch in expression should occur at key life-history transitions. We manipulated background level of risk in juvenile damselfish for four days following settlement (a key life-history transition) or 10 days post-settlement and measured a suite of physiological and behavioural variables over 2 weeks. We found that settlement-stage fish exposed to high-risk conditions displayed behavioural and physiological alterations consistent with high-risk phenotypes, which gave them a survival advantage when exposed to predators. These changes were maintained for at least 2 weeks. The same exposure in post-settlement fish failed to elicit a change in some traits, while the expression of other traits disappeared within a week. Our results are consistent with those expected from phenotypic resonance. Expression of antipredator traits may be masked if in iduals are not exposed to certain conditions at key ontogenetic stages.
Social learning of predators in the dark: understanding the role of visual, chemical and mechanical information
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-08-2013
Abstract: The ability of prey to observe and learn to recognize potential predators from the behaviour of nearby in iduals can dramatically increase survival and, not surprisingly, is widespread across animal taxa. A range of sensory modalities are available for this learning, with visual and chemical cues being well-established modes of transmission in aquatic systems. The use of other sensory cues in mediating social learning in fishes, including mechano-sensory cues, remains unexplored. Here, we examine the role of different sensory cues in social learning of predator recognition, using juvenile damselfish ( Amphiprion percula ). Specifically, we show that a predator-naive observer can socially learn to recognize a novel predator when paired with a predator-experienced conspecific in total darkness. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that when threatened, in iduals release chemical cues (known as disturbance cues) into the water. These cues induce an anti-predator response in nearby in iduals however, they do not facilitate learnt recognition of the predator. As such, another sensory modality, probably mechano-sensory in origin, is responsible for information transfer in the dark. This study highlights the ersity of sensory cues used by coral reef fishes in a social learning context.
Risk assessment and predator learning in a changing world: understanding the impacts of coral reef degradation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-09-2016
DOI: 10.1038/SREP32542
Abstract: Habitat degradation is among the top drivers of the loss of global bio ersity. This problem is particularly acute in coral reef system. Here we investigated whether coral degradation influences predator risk assessment and learning for damselfish. When in a live coral environment, Ambon damselfish were able to learn the identity of an unknown predator upon exposure to damselfish alarm cues combined with predator odour and were able to socially transmit this learned recognition to naïve conspecifics. However, in the presence of dead coral water, damselfish failed to learn to recognize the predator through alarm cue conditioning and hence could not transmit the information socially. Unlike alarm cues of Ambon damselfish that appear to be rendered unusable in degraded coral habitats, alarm cues of Nagasaki damselfish remain viable in this same environment. Nagasaki damselfish were able to learn predators through conditioning with alarm cues in degraded habitats and subsequently transmit the information socially to Ambon damselfish. Predator-prey dynamics may be profoundly affected as habitat degradation proceeds the success of one species that appears to have compromised predation assessment and learning, may find itself reliant on other species that are seemingly unaffected by the same degree of habitat degradation.
Smell, learn and live: The role of chemical alarm cues in predator learning during early life history in a marine fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2010
DOI: 10.1016/J.BEPROC.2010.01.013
Abstract: The speed with which in iduals can learn to identify and react appropriately to predation threats when transitioning to new life history stages and habitats will influence their survival. This study investigated the role of chemical alarm cues in both anti-predator responses and predator identification during a transitional period in a newly settled coral reef damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. In iduals were tested for changes in seven behavioural traits in response to conspecific and heterospecific skin extracts. Additionally, we tested whether fish could learn to associate a previously novel chemical cue (i.e. simulated predator scent) with danger, after previously being exposed to a paired cue combining the conspecific skin extract with the novel scent. Fish exposed to conspecific skin extracts were found to significantly decreased their feeding rate whilst those exposed to heterospecific and control cues showed no change. In iduals were also able to associate a previously novel scent with danger after only a single previous exposure to the paired conspecific skin extract/novel scent cue. Our results indicate that chemical alarm cues play a large role in both threat detection and learned predator recognition during the early post-settlement period in coral reef fishes.
To fear or to feed: the effects of turbidity on perception of risk by a marine fish
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 17-08-2011
Abstract: Coral reefs are currently experiencing a number of worsening anthropogenic stressors, with nearshore reefs suffering from increasing sedimentation because of growing human populations and development in coastal regions. In habitats where vision and olfaction serve as the primary sources of information, reduced visual input from suspended sediment may lead to significant alterations in prey fish behaviour. Here, we test whether prey compensate for reduced visual information by increasing their antipredator responses to chemically mediated risk cues in turbid conditions. Experiments with the spiny damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus , found that baseline activity levels were reduced by 23 per cent in high turbidity conditions relative to low turbidity conditions. Furthermore, risk cues elicited strong antipredator responses at all turbidity levels the strongest antipredator responses were observed in high turbidity conditions, with fish reducing their foraging by almost 40 per cent, as compared with 17 per cent for fish in clear conditions. This provides unambiguous evidence of sensory compensation in a predation context for a tropical marine fish, and suggests that prey fish may be able to behaviourally offset some of the fitness reductions resulting from anthropogenic sedimentation of their habitats.
Predators target rare prey in coral reef fish assemblages
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 15-03-2007
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-007-0693-3
Abstract: Predation can result in differing patterns of local prey ersity depending on whether predators are selective and, if so, how they select prey. A recent study comparing the ersity of juvenile fish assemblages among coral reefs with and without predators concluded that decreased prey ersity in the presence of predators was most likely caused by predators actively selecting rare prey species. We used several related laboratory experiments to explore this hypothesis by testing: (1) whether predators prefer particular prey species, (2) whether in idual predators consistently select the same prey species, (3) whether predators target rare prey, and (4) whether rare prey are more vulnerable to predation because they differ in appearance/colouration from common prey. Rare prey suffered greater predation than expected and were not more vulnerable to predators because their appearance/colouration differed from common prey. In idual predators did not consistently select the same prey species through time, suggesting that prey selection behaviour was flexible and context dependent rather than fixed. Thus, selection of rare prey was unlikely to be explained by simple preferences for particular prey species. We hypothesize that when faced with multiple prey species predators may initially focus on rare, conspicuous species to overcome the sensory confusion experienced when attacking aggregated prey, thereby minimizing the time required to capture prey. This hypothesis represents a community-level manifestation of two well-documented and related phenomena, the "confusion effect" and the "oddity effect", and may be an important, and often overlooked, mechanism by which predators influence local species ersity.
Disturbance cues facilitate associative learning of predators in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-10-2021
Strong hydrodynamic drivers of coral reef fish biodiversity on submerged pinnacle coral reefs
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-09-2023
DOI: 10.1002/LNO.12431
Learning to distinguish between predators and non-predators: understanding the critical role of diet cues and predator odours in generalisation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-09-2015
DOI: 10.1038/SREP13918
Abstract: It is critical for prey to recognise predators and distinguish predators from non-threatening species. Yet, we have little understanding of how prey develop effective predator recognition templates. Recent studies suggest that prey may actually learn key predator features which can be used to recognise novel species with similar characteristics. However, non-predators are sometimes mislabelled as predators when generalising recognition. Here, we conduct the first comprehensive investigation of how prey integrate information on predator odours and predator diet cues in generalisation, allowing them to discriminate between predators and non-predators. We taught lemon damselfish to recognise a predator fed a fish diet and tested them for their response to the known predator and a series of novel predators (fed fish diet) and non-predators (fed squid diet) distributed across a phylogenetic gradient. Our findings show that damselfish distinguish between predators and non-predators when generalising recognition. Additional experiments revealed that generalised recognition did not result from recognition of predator odours or diet cues, but that damselfish based recognition on what they learned during the initial conditioning. Incorporating multiple sources of information enables prey to develop highly plastic and accurate recognition templates that will increase survival in patchy environments where they have little prior knowledge.
Background level of risk and the survival of predator-naïve prey: can neophobia compensate for predator naivety in juvenile coral reef fishes?
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-01-2015
Abstract: Neophobia—the generalized fear response to novel stimuli—provides the first potential strategy that predator-naive prey may use to survive initial predator encounters. This phenotype appears to be highly plastic and present in in iduals experiencing high-risk environments, but rarer in those experiencing low-risk environments. Despite the appeal of this strategy as a ‘solution’ for prey naivety, we lack evidence that this strategy provides any fitness benefit to prey. Here, we compare the relative effect of environmental risk (high versus low) and predator-recognition training (predator-naive versus predator-experienced in iduals) on the survival of juvenile fish in the wild. We found that juveniles raised in high-risk conditions survived better than those raised in low-risk conditions, providing the first empirical evidence that environmental risk, in the absence of any predator-specific information, affects the way naive prey survive in a novel environment. Both risk level and experience affected survival however, the two factors did not interact, indicating that the information provided by both factors did not interfere or enhance each other. From a mechanistic viewpoint, this indicates that the combination of the two factors may increase the intensity, and hence efficacy, of prey evasion strategies, or that both factors provide qualitatively separate benefits that would result in an additive survival success.
Coral reef fish predator maintains olfactory acuity in degraded coral habitats
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-06-2017
Degraded environments alter prey risk assessment
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.388
The influence of habitat association on swimming performance in marine teleost fish larvae
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 21-06-2021
DOI: 10.1111/FAF.12580
Abstract: Latitude and body size are generally considered key drivers of swimming performance for larval marine fishes, but evidence suggests that evolutionary relationships and habitat may also be important. We used a comparative phylogenetic framework, data synthesis and case study approach to investigate how swimming performance differs among larvae of fish species across latitude. First, we investigated how swimming performance changed with body length, and we found that temperate reef fishes have the greatest increases in swimming performance with length. Secondly, we compared differences in three swimming performance metrics (critical swimming speed, in situ swimming, and endurance) among post‐flexion larvae, whilst considering phylogenetic relationships and morphology, and we found that reef fishes have higher swimming capacity than non‐reef (pelagic and non‐reef demersal) fishes, which is likely due to larger, more robust body sizes. Thirdly, we compared swimming performance of late‐stage larvae of tropical fishes with oceanographic data to better understand the ecological relevance of their high‐capacity swimming. We found that reef fishes have high swimming performance and grow larger than non‐reef fish larvae, which we suggest is due to the pressures to find a specific, patchily distributed habitat upon which to settle. Given the current bias towards studies on percomorph fishes at low latitudes, we highlight that there is a need for more research on temperate reef fish larvae and other percomorph lineages from high latitudes. Overall, our findings provide valuable context to understand how swimming and morphological traits that are important for dispersal and recruitment processes are selected for among teleost fish larvae.
The cost of carryover effects in a changing environment: context-dependent benefits of a behavioural phenotype in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
Spatial and temporal validation of settlement-marks in the otoliths of tropical reef fishes
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1997
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS153259
Position of egg within a clutch is linked to size at hatching in a demersal tropical fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2006
Intrageneric differences in the effects of acute temperature exposure on competitive behaviour of damselfishes
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 17-07-2019
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.7320
Abstract: Projected increases in global temperatures brought on by climate change threaten to disrupt many biological and ecological processes. Tropical ectotherms, like many fishes, can be particularly susceptible to temperature change as they occupy environments with narrow thermal fluctuations. While climate change models predict temperatures to increase over decades, thermal fluctuations are already experienced on a seasonal scale, which may affect the ability to capture and defend resources across a thermal gradient. For coral reef fish, losers of competitive interactions are often more vulnerable to predation, and this pressure is strongest just after settlement. Competitive interactions may determine future success for coral reef fishes, and understanding how temperature experienced during settlement can influence such interactions will give insight to community dynamics in a future warmer world. We tested the effect of increased temperatures on intraspecific competitive interactions of two sympatric species of reef damselfish, the blue damselfish Pomacentrus nagasakiensis , and the whitetail damselfish Pomacentrus chrysurus . Juvenile fishes were exposed to one of four temperature treatments, ranging from 26–32 °C, for seven days then placed into competitive arenas where aggressive interactions were recorded between sized matched in iduals within each species. While there was no apparent effect of temperature treatment on aggressive behaviour for P. chrysurus, we observed up to a four-fold increase in aggression scores for P. nagasakiensis with increasing temperature. Results suggest that temperature experienced as juveniles can impact aggressive behaviour however, species-specific thermal tolerances led to behavioural affects that differ among closely related species. Differential thermal tolerance among species may cause restructuring of the interaction network that underlies the structure of reef assemblages.
Response across a gradient: behavioural reactions of newly settled fish to predation cues
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2011
Rapid transgenerational acclimation of a tropical reef fish to climate change
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-12-2012
DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE1323
Replenishment success linked to fluctuating asymmetry in larval fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-11-2008
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-008-1212-X
Abstract: Fluctuating asymmetry (FA), defined as random deviations from perfect symmetry, has become a popular tool with which to examine the effects of stress during the development of bilaterally symmetrical organisms. Recent studies have suggested that FA in otoliths may serve as an indicator of stress in fish larvae. We examined the relationship between otolith asymmetry and temporal patterns in the occurrence of late-stage larvae to a tropical reef (i.e. replenishment) for the Caribbean lizardfish, Saurida suspicio (family Synodontidae). Late-stage larvae were collected in light traps over a period of 18 consecutive lunar months in the San Blas Archipelago, Panama. Asymmetry within otolith pairs was calculated from 24 variables: area, perimeter, longest and shortest axis of the otolith and 20 shape descriptors (Fourier harmonics). Otolith asymmetry was correlated strongly with fluctuations in lunar light trap catches. Two measured variables, otolith area and one of the 20 shape descriptors, accounted for 60% of the variability in lunar replenishment of S. suspicio. In iduals from small replenishment pulses exhibited higher levels of asymmetry compared to larvae from large pulses. When dry and wet seasons were analysed separately, otolith asymmetry explained a surprising 70 and 97% of the variation, respectively. Although the generality of these results remain to be tested among other populations and species, otolith asymmetry may be an important indicator, and potentially a predictor, of larval quality and replenishment success.
Ontogeny of the Digestive and Feeding Systems in the Anemonefish Amphiprion Melanopus
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2001
Coral-dwelling fishes resistant to bleaching but not to mortality of host corals
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 18-11-2009
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS08294
Indirect effects of an ectoparasite reduce successful establishment of a damselfish at settlement
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-10-2011
Chemical cues correlate with agonistic behaviour and female mate choice in the southern blue-ringed octopus, Hapalochlaena maculosa (Hoyle, 1883) (Cephalopoda: Octopodidae)
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-12-2017
Temperature-induced shifts in selective pressure at a critical developmental transition
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 23-01-2007
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-006-0647-1
Abstract: Selective mortality within a population, based on the phenotype of in iduals, is the foundation of the theory of natural selection. We examined temperature-induced shifts in the relationships among early life history traits and survivorship over the embryonic and larval stages of a tropical damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. Our experiments show that temperature determines the intensity of selective mortality, and that this changes with ontogeny. The size of energy stores determined survival through to hatching, after which egg size became a good indicator of fitness as predicted by theoretical models. Yet, the benefits associated with egg size were not uniform among test temperatures. Initial egg size positively influenced larval survival at control temperature (29 degrees C). However, this embryonic trait had no effect on post-hatching longevity of in iduals reared at the higher (31 degrees C) and lower (25 degrees C) end of the temperature range. Overall, our findings indicate that the outcome of selective mortality is strongly dependent on the interaction between environment conditions and intrinsic developmental schedules.
Behavioural mediation of the costs and benefits of fast growth in a marine fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2010
Environmental influences on the replenishment of lizardfish (family Synodontidae) in Caribbean Panama
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 25-03-2009
Multiple predator effects on juvenile prey survival
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-06-2018
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-018-4182-7
Abstract: Predicting multiple predator effects (MPEs) on shared prey remains one of the biggest challenges in ecology. Empirical evidence indicates that interactions among predators can alter predation rates and modify any expected linear effects on prey survival. Knowledge on predator density, identity and life-history traits is expected to help predict the behavioral mechanisms that lead to non-linear changes in predation. Yet, few studies have rigorously examined the effects of predator-predator interactions on prey survival, particularly with marine vertebrate predators. Using an additive-substitutive design, we experimentally paired reef piscivores with different hunting mode [active predator, Pseudochromis fuscus (F) ambush predators, Cephalopholis boenak (B), Epinephelus maculatus (M)] to determine how behavioral interactions modified their combined impacts on damselfish prey. Results showed that behavioral patterns among predators matched those predicted from their hunting mode. However, it was the identity of the predators what determined the strength of any positive or negative interactions, and thus the nature and magnitude of MPEs on prey survival (i.e., risk-enhancing effects: treatments BB, MM and FM risk-reducing: BM and linear effects: FF, FB). Given the specificity of predator-predator interactions, none of the predators were fully functionally redundant. Even when two species seemed substitutable (i.e., predators F and M), they led to vastly erse effects when paired with additional predator species (i.e., B). We concluded that knowledge of the identity of the predator species and the behavioral interactions among them is crucial to successfully predict MPEs in natural systems.
Differing Mechanisms Underlie Sexual Size-Dimorphism in Two Populations of a Sex-Changing Fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 12-05-2010
Social learning and acquired recognition of a predator by a marine fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 28-03-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S10071-012-0484-Z
Abstract: Predation is known to influence the distribution of behavioural traits among prey in iduals, populations and communities over both evolutionary and ecological time scales. Prey have evolved mechanisms of rapidly learning the identity of predators. Chemical cues are often used by prey to assess predation risk especially in aquatic systems where visual cues are unreliable. Social learning is a method of threat assessment common among a variety of freshwater fish taxa, which incorporates chemosensory information. Learning predator identities through social learning is beneficial to naïve in iduals as it eliminates the need for direct interaction with a potential threat. Although social learning is widespread throughout the animal kingdom, no research on the use of this mechanism exists for marine species. In this study, we examined the role of social learning in predator recognition for a tropical damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus. This species was found to not only possess and respond to conspecific chemical alarm cues, but naïve in iduals were able to learn a predators' identity from experienced in iduals, the process of social learning. Fish that learned to associate risk with the olfactory cue of a predator responded with the same intensity as conspecifics that were exposed to a chemical alarm cue from a conspecific skin extract.
Influence of cortisol on developmental rhythms during embryogenesis in a tropical damselfish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-08-2002
DOI: 10.1002/JEZ.10138
Abstract: Newly-spawned teleost eggs can vary widely in their maternal endowment of a variety of hormones, including cortisol. Field and laboratory experiments have shown that initial egg cortisol concentrations directly influence the size at hatching of the benthic spawning damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. The present study examines the mechanism by which cortisol influences larval size at hatching by investigating the growth and developmental rhythms throughout embryogenesis. Newly spawned eggs of P. amboinensis were collected from natural benthic nests, and half of each clutch was incubated in a moderate level of cortisol (2.7 x 10(-6) M, equivalent to a concentration of 0.79 pg/egg). Cortisol was found to have no affect on the rate of cell-pulsations up to epiboly (18 hr post-fertilization), with cells pulsing at a mean rate of 56-60 pulses/min. Cortisol had an affect on the relative growth rate from the start of gastrulation to knot formation. Growth in the cortisol-supplemented embryos was pulsed, with periods of fast growth punctuated by long periods of stasis. Overall growth rates during this period were lower in the cortisol-supplemented embryos despite their higher growth during active periods. Pulse rates of somite cells and contraction rhythms of myotomes and the heart were twice as high in cortisol-supplemented embryos than controls. Despite this, cortisol-supplemented eggs developed at the same rate as controls and hatched at the same time. This study suggests that the maternal endowment of cortisol to eggs plays a vital role in determining the embryonic rhythms by which embryos grow and may be directly influencing metabolism.
Habitat degradation disrupts neophobia in juvenile coral reef fish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-07-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13393
Abstract: Habitat degradation not only disrupts habitat-forming species, but alters the sensory landscape within which most species must balance behavioural activities against predation risk. Rapidly developing a cautious behavioural phenotype, a condition known as neophobia, is advantageous when entering a novel risky habitat. Many aquatic organisms rely on damage-released conspecific cues (i.e. alarm cues) as an indicator of impending danger and use them to assess general risk and develop neophobia. This study tested whether settlement-stage damselfish associated with degraded coral reef habitats were able to use alarm cues as an indicator of risk and, in turn, develop a neophobic response at the end of their larval phase. Our results indicate that fish in live coral habitats that were exposed to alarm cues developed neophobia, and, in situ, were found to be more cautious, more closely associated with their coral shelters and survived four-times better than non-neophobic control fish. In contrast, fish that settled onto degraded coral habitats did not exhibit neophobia and consequently suffered much greater mortality on the reef, regardless of their history of exposure to alarm cues. Our results show that habitat degradation alters the efficacy of alarm cues with phenotypic and survival consequences for newly settled recruits.
Plasticity of Escape Responses: Prior Predator Experience Enhances Escape Performance in a Coral Reef Fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 05-08-2015
Predation and its influence on the condition of a newly settled tropical demersal fish
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 1996
DOI: 10.1071/MF9960557
Abstract: The effects of predation by a common tropical piscivore on levels of variability in size and body composition of a demersal fish at settlement were examined in a series of laboratory experiments. Wild-caught, newly metamorphosed goatfish (Upeneus tragula) were placed in large tanks and subjected to predation by lizardfish (Synodus variegatus). Three trials failed to show an influence of predation on the size distribution of the newly settled prey. In a second experiment, mid-larval-phase goatfish were subjected to one of two feeding regimes this resulted in two groups of metamorphs that differed markedly in biochemical composition (i.e. total lipid levels). Twenty fish from each treatment were randomly chosen, under the constraint of a similar mean size, and subjected to predation. Susceptibility of newly metamorphosed fish to predation by the lizardfish was independent of their initial biochemical composition. These results suggest that predation by this common tropical reef fish predator may be non-selective with respect to both size and body composition of U. tragula. Consequently, the high variability found in these body attributes at settlement may extend its influence into the juvenile population.
Effects of parasites on larval and juvenile stages of the coral reef fish Pomacentrus moluccensis
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-11-2010
No effects of plasticized microplastics on the body condition and reproduction of a marine fish
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 04-04-2023
Abstract: This study experimentally explored the influence of periodic consumption of polystyrene (PS) microplastic fragments on the body condition and fitness of a tropical marine fish. Adult damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus, were pulse fed microplastic fragments bound with one of two different common plasticizers [di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), di-2-ethylhexyl terephthalate (DEHT)] together with virgin-plastic and no-plastic controls. Ingestion of plastic over a 150d period had no detectable effect on growth, indices of body condition, or gonadosomatic indices. Histology of the liver showed no detrimental effects of ingesting any of the plastic treatments on hepatocyte density or vacuolation. Plastic consumption had no effect on the number of clutches produced over the breeding period, the number of eggs, or the survival of embryos. It is believed that the relatively inert nature of PS, the low amount of plasticizers leached from the fragments and fast gut through-put times meant fish were exposed to low levels of toxic compounds.
Effects of elevated CO2 on fish behaviour undiminished by transgenerational acclimation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-10-2014
DOI: 10.1038/NCLIMATE2400
Spatio-temporal patterns in the abundance and population structure of a large temperate reef fish
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1989
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS053215
Chemical Alarm Cues Are Conserved within the Coral Reef Fish Family Pomacentridae
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 18-10-2012
O2 replenishment to fish nests: Males adjust brood care to ambient conditions and brood development
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 10-11-2005
A Comparison of Measures of Boldness and Their Relationships to Survival in Young Fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 16-07-2013
Comparison of field methods for measuring surface topography and their associations with a tropical reef fish assemblage
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 1994
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS112087
Background level of risk determines how prey categorize predators and non-predators
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 22-07-2014
Abstract: Much of the plasticity that prey exhibit in response to predators is linked to the prey's immediate background level of risk. However, we know almost nothing of how background risk influences how prey learn to categorize predators and non-predators. Learning non-predators probably represents one of the most underappreciated aspects of anti-predator decision-making. Here, we provide larval damselfish ( Pomacentrus chrysurus ) with a high or low background risk and then try to teach them to recognize a cue as non-threatening through the process of latent inhibition. Prey from the low-risk background that were pre-exposed to the novel odour cues in the absence of negative reinforcement for 3 days, and then provided the opportunity to learn to recognize the odour as threatening, failed to subsequently respond to the odour as a threat. Fish from the high-risk background showed a much different response. These fish did not learn the odour as non-threatening, probably because the cost of falsely learning an odour as non-threatening is higher when the background level of risk is higher. Our work highlights that background level of risk appears to drive plasticity in cognition of prey animals learning to discriminate threats in their environment.
Friend or foe? The role of latent inhibition in predator and non-predator labelling by coral reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-04-2011
DOI: 10.1007/S10071-011-0405-6
Abstract: In communities of high bio ersity, the ability to distinguish predators from non-predators is crucial for prey success. Learning often plays a vital role in the ability to distinguish species that are threatening from those that are not. Many prey animals learn to recognise predators based on a single conditioning event whereby they are exposed to the unknown predator at the same time as alarm cues released from injured conspecifics. The remarkable efficiency of such learning means that recognition mistakes may occur if prey inadvertently learn that a species is a predator when it is not. Latent inhibition is a means by which prey that are pre-exposed to an unknown species in the absence of negative reinforcement can learn that the unknown animal is likely not a threat. Learning through latent inhibition should be conservative because mistakenly identifying predators as non-predators can have fatal consequences. In this study, we demonstrated that a common coral reef fish, lemon damselfish, Pomacentrus moluccensis can learn to recognise a predator as non-threatening through latent inhibition. Furthermore, we showed that we could override the latent inhibition effect by conditioning the prey to recognise the predator numerous times. Our results highlight the ability of prey fish to continually update the information regarding the threat posed by other fishes in their vicinity.
Competitive superiority versus predation savvy: the two sides of behavioural lateralization
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2017
Active in the sac: damselfish embryos use innate recognition of odours to learn predation risk before hatching
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2015
The fading of fear effects due to coral degradation is modulated by community composition
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-09-2020
Environmental influences on larval duration, growth and magnitude of settlement of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-03-2005
Stable isotope analysis reveals trophic diversity and partitioning in territorial damselfishes on a high latitude coral reef
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 09-01-2019
Ocean Acidification Affects Prey Detection by a Predatory Reef Fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 28-07-2011
Temporal Links in Daily Activity Patterns between Coral Reef Predators and Their Prey
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 29-10-2014
Increased CO2
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-07-2013
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12259
Abstract: Ocean acidification is predicted to negatively impact the reproduction of many marine species, either by reducing fertilization success or erting energy from reproductive effort. While recent studies have demonstrated how ocean acidification will affect larval and juvenile fishes, little is known about how increasing partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO(2)) and decreasing pH might affect reproduction in adult fishes. We investigated the effects of near-future levels of pCO(2) on the reproductive performance of the cinnamon anemonefish, Amphiprion melanopus, from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. Breeding pairs were held under three CO(2) treatments [Current-day Control (430 μatm), Moderate (584 μatm) and High (1032 μatm)] for a 9-month period that included the summer breeding season. Unexpectedly, increased CO(2) dramatically stimulated breeding activity in this species of fish. Over twice as many pairs bred in the Moderate (67% of pairs) and High (55%) compared to the Control (27%) CO(2) treatment. Pairs in the High CO(2) group produced double the number of clutches per pair and 67% more eggs per clutch compared to the Moderate and Control groups. As a result, reproductive output in the High group was 82% higher than that in the Control group and 50% higher than that in the Moderate group. Despite the increase in reproductive activity, there was no difference in adult body condition among the three treatment groups. There was no significant difference in hatchling length between the treatment groups, but larvae from the High CO(2) group had smaller yolks than Controls. This study provides the first evidence of the potential effects of ocean acidification on key reproductive attributes of marine fishes and, contrary to expectations, demonstrates an initially stimulatory (hormetic) effect in response to increased pCO(2). However, any long-term consequences of increased reproductive effort on in iduals or populations remain to be determined.
Development and characterization of eight new microsatellite markers for the haremic sandperch, Parapercis cylindrica (family Pinguipedidae)
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2006
Coral Reef Fish Rapidly Learn to Identify Multiple Unknown Predators upon Recruitment to the Reef
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 10-01-2011
Syndromes or Flexibility: Behavior during a Life History Transition of a Coral Reef Fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 27-12-2013
Interactive effects of ocean acidification and rising sea temperatures alter predation rate and predator selectivity in reef fish communities
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 30-01-2015
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.12818
Abstract: Ocean warming and acidification are serious threats to marine life. While each stressor alone has been studied in detail, their combined effects on the outcome of ecological interactions are poorly understood. We measured predation rates and predator selectivity of two closely related species of damselfish exposed to a predatory dottyback. We found temperature and CO2 interacted synergistically on overall predation rate, but antagonistically on predator selectivity. Notably, elevated CO2 or temperature alone reversed predator selectivity, but the interaction between the two stressors cancelled selectivity. Routine metabolic rates of the two prey showed strong species differences in tolerance to CO2 and not temperature, but these differences did not correlate with recorded mortality. This highlights the difficulty of linking species-level physiological tolerance to resulting ecological outcomes. This study is the first to document both synergistic and antagonistic effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on a crucial ecological process like predator-prey dynamics.
MOTHERS MATTER: CROWDING LEADS TO STRESSED MOTHERS AND SMALLER OFFSPRING IN MARINE FISH
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2006
DOI: 10.1890/0012-9658(2006)87[1104:MMCLTS]2.0.CO;2
Abstract: Most marine populations are sustained by the entry of juveniles that have survived the larval phase, during which time most die. The number of survivors depends strongly on the quality of the eggs produced by spawning females, but it is not known how the social conditions under which breeding occurs influence the quality of larvae produced. Here I show that the density of females interacting with breeding mothers directly influences the size of larvae produced, through a stress-related mechanism. On the Great Barrier Reef of Australia, breeding pairs of a damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis, were isolated on habitat patches, and additional females that could not access the spawning site were added at four densities (0, 1, 3, or 6 females). Additional females increased aggressive interactions by mothers and increased the levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, in their ovaries, leading to reduced larval size. Neither egg output nor yolk size of the larvae was influenced by female density. Pairs breeding in isolation produced the largest larvae current theory suggests that these larvae should contribute most to subsequent population replenishment events. This social mechanism may influence which females effectively contribute to the next generation and may promote resilience in patchy or isolated populations.
Multispecies spawning sites for fishes on a low‐latitude coral reef: spatial and temporal patterns
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-03-2014
DOI: 10.1111/JFB.12355
Abstract: Spawning sites used by one or more species were located by intensively searching nearshore coral reefs of Kimbe Bay (New Britain, Papua New Guinea). Once identified, the spawning sites were surveyed repeatedly within fixed 5 m radius circular areas, for > 2000 h of observations ranging from before dawn to after dusk spanning 190 days between July 2001 and May 2004. A total of 38 spawning sites were identified on the seven study reefs distributed at an average of one site every 60 m of reef edge. Pelagic spawning was observed in 41 fish species from six families. On three intensively studied reefs, all 17 spawning sites identified were used by at least three species, with a maximum of 30 different species observed spawning at a single site. Spawning was observed during every month of the study, on all days of the lunar month, at all states of the tide and at most hours of the day studied. Nevertheless, the majority of species were observed spawning on proportionately more days from December to April, on more days around the new moon and in association with higher tides. The strongest temporal association, however, was with species-specific diel spawning times spanning < 3 h for most species. While dawn spawning, afternoon spawning and dusk spawning species were differentiated, the time of spawning for the striated surgeonfish Ctenochaetus striatus also differed significantly among sites. The large number of species spawning at the same restricted locations during predictable times suggests that these sites are extremely important on this low-latitude coral reef.
Motorboat noise impacts parental behaviour and offspring survival in a reef fish
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-06-2017
Abstract: Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of international concern, with mounting evidence of disturbance and impacts on animal behaviour and physiology. However, empirical studies measuring survival consequences are rare. We use a field experiment to investigate how repeated motorboat-noise playback affects parental behaviour and offspring survival in the spiny chromis ( Acanthochromis polyacanthus ), a brooding coral reef fish. Repeated observations were made for 12 days at 38 natural nests with broods of young. Exposure to motorboat-noise playback compared to ambient-sound playback increased defensive acts, and reduced both feeding and offspring interactions by brood-guarding males. Anthropogenic noise did not affect the growth of developing offspring, but reduced the likelihood of offspring survival while offspring survived at all 19 nests exposed to ambient-sound playback, six of the 19 nests exposed to motorboat-noise playback suffered complete brood mortality. Our study, providing field-based experimental evidence of the consequences of anthropogenic noise, suggests potential fitness consequences of this global pollutant.
Effect of elevated carbon dioxide on shoal familiarity and metabolism in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2016
Habitat degradation drives increased gnathiid isopod ectoparasite infection rate on juvenile but not adult fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-08-2021
Maladaptive behavior reinforces a recruitment bottleneck in newly settled fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 04-07-2010
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-010-1712-3
Abstract: Settlement from the plankton ends the major dispersive stage of life for many marine organisms and exposes them to intense predation pressure in juvenile habitats. This predation mortality represents a life-history bottleneck that can determine recruitment success. At the level of in idual predator-prey interactions, prey survival depends upon behavior, specifically how behavior affects prey conspicuousness and evasive ability. We conducted an experiment to identify behavioral traits and performance levels that are important determinants of which in iduals survive or die soon after settlement. We measured a suite of behavioral traits on late stage, pre-settlement Ward's damsel (Pomacentrus wardi) collected using light traps. These behavioral traits included two measures of routine swimming (indicators of conspicuousness) and eight measures of escape performance to a visual startle stimulus. Fish were then released onto in idual patch reefs, where ers measured an additional behavioral trait (boldness). We censused each patch reef until approximately 50% of the fish were missing (~24 h), which we assumed to be a result of predation. We used classification tree analysis to discriminate survivors from fish presumed dead based on poor behavioral performance. The classification tree revealed that in iduals displaying the maladaptive combination of low escape response speed, low boldness on the reef, and high routine swimming speed were highly susceptible to predation (92.4% with this combination died within 24 h). This accounted for 55.2% of all fish that died. Several combinations of behavioral traits predicted likely survival over 24 h, but there was greater uncertainty about that prediction than there was for fish that were predicted to die. Thus maladaptive behavioral traits were easier to identify than adaptive traits.
Coral degradation alters predator odour signatures and influences prey learning and survival
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 29-05-2019
Abstract: Habitat degradation is a key factor leading to the global loss of bio ersity. This problem is particularly acute in coral reef ecosystems. We investigated whether recognition of predator odours by damselfish was influenced by coral degradation and whether these changes altered survival in the wild. We taught whitespot damselfish to recognize the odour of a predator in the presence of live/healthy coral or dead/degraded coral. Fish were tested for a response to predator odours in environments that matched their conditioning environment or in environments that were mismatched. Next, we taught blue damselfish to recognize the odour of three common reef predators in live and degraded coral environments and then stocked them onto live or degraded patch reefs, where we monitored their subsequent response to predator odour along with their survival. Damselfish learned to recognize predator odours in both coral environments, but the intensity of their antipredator response was much greater when the conditioning and test environments matched. Fish released on degraded coral had about 50% higher survival if they had been trained in the presence of degraded coral rather than live coral. Altering the intensity of antipredator responses could have rather profound consequences on population growth.
Multiple predator effects on juvenile prey survival
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 11-06-2018
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-018-4182-7
Abstract: Predicting multiple predator effects (MPEs) on shared prey remains one of the biggest challenges in ecology. Empirical evidence indicates that interactions among predators can alter predation rates and modify any expected linear effects on prey survival. Knowledge on predator density, identity and life-history traits is expected to help predict the behavioral mechanisms that lead to non-linear changes in predation. Yet, few studies have rigorously examined the effects of predator-predator interactions on prey survival, particularly with marine vertebrate predators. Using an additive-substitutive design, we experimentally paired reef piscivores with different hunting mode [active predator, Pseudochromis fuscus (F) ambush predators, Cephalopholis boenak (B), Epinephelus maculatus (M)] to determine how behavioral interactions modified their combined impacts on damselfish prey. Results showed that behavioral patterns among predators matched those predicted from their hunting mode. However, it was the identity of the predators what determined the strength of any positive or negative interactions, and thus the nature and magnitude of MPEs on prey survival (i.e., risk-enhancing effects: treatments BB, MM and FM risk-reducing: BM and linear effects: FF, FB). Given the specificity of predator-predator interactions, none of the predators were fully functionally redundant. Even when two species seemed substitutable (i.e., predators F and M), they led to vastly erse effects when paired with additional predator species (i.e., B). We concluded that knowledge of the identity of the predator species and the behavioral interactions among them is crucial to successfully predict MPEs in natural systems.
Influence of seasonal and latitudinal temperature variation on early life-history traits of a coral reef fish
Publisher: CSIRO Publishing
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.1071/MF11278
Abstract: Temporal and latitudinal gradients in ocean temperature may be useful for predicting the likely responses of marine species to accelerating global warming. Here, we examined seasonal variations in early life-history traits of the reef fish Pomacentrus moluccensis at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Latitudinal variations were then compared among three locations from Kimbe Bay in Papua New Guinea to the southern GBR (18° latitude). At Lizard Island, a 4°C temperature rise from spring to summer was correlated with a 0.13 mm day−1 increase in pre-settlement growth rates and a 3.28-day decrease in pelagic larval duration (PLD). The latitudinal comparison revealed a non-linear relationship where growth rate and settlement size declined and PLD increased at Kimbe Bay where temperature was the highest of all the study sites. Furthermore, the slopes of latitudinal variations in life-history traits as a function of temperature within the GBR were significantly steeper than those in the temporal analysis. These latitudinal patterns were likely to be shaped by (1) the species thermal reaction norm, (2) local adaptation or (3) location-specific environmental and demographic characteristics. The significant correlations of early life-history traits with natural temperature gradients emphasise the potential sensitivity of reef fish larvae to global warming.
Methods matter in repeating ocean acidification studies.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-10-2020
Influence of prey body characteristics and performance on predator selection
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-11-2008
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-008-1220-X
Abstract: At the time of settlement to the reef environment, coral reef fishes differ in a number of characteristics that may influence their survival during a predatory encounter. This study investigated the selective nature of predation by both a multi-species predator pool, and a single common predator (Pseudochromis fuscus), on the reef fish, Pomacentrus amboinensis. The study focused on the early post-settlement period of P. amboinensis, when mortality, and hence selection, is known to be highest. Correlations between nine different measures of body condition erformance were examined at the time of settlement, in order to elucidate the relationships between different traits. Single-predator (P. fuscus) choice trials were conducted in 57.4-l aquaria with respect to three different prey characteristics [standard length (SL), body weight and burst swimming speed], whilst multi-species trials were conducted on open patch reefs, manipulating prey body weight only. Relationships between the nine measures of condition erformance were generally poor, with the strongest correlations occurring between the morphological measures and within the performance measures. During aquaria trials, P. fuscus was found to be selective with respect to prey SL only, with larger in iduals being selected significantly more often. Multi-species predator communities, however, were selective with respect to prey body weight, with heavier in iduals being selected significantly more often than their lighter counterparts. Our results suggest that under controlled conditions, body length may be the most important prey characteristic influencing prey survival during predatory encounters with P. fuscus. In such cases, larger prey size may actually be a distinct disadvantage to survival. However, these relationships appear to be more complex under natural conditions, where the expression of prey characteristics, the selectivity fields of a number of different predators, their relative abundance, and the action of external environmental characteristics, may all influence which in iduals survive.
Selective predation for low body condition at the larval-juvenile transition of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-2004
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-004-1489-3
Abstract: Mortality is known to be high during the transition from larval to juvenile life stages in organisms that have complex life histories. We are only just beginning to understand the processes that influence which in iduals survive this period of high mortality, and which traits may be beneficial. Here we document a field experiment that examines the selectivity of predation immediately following settlement to the juvenile population in a common tropical fish, Pomacentrus amboinensis (Pomacentridae). Newly metamorphosed fish were tagged and randomly placed onto replicated patches of natural habitat cleared of resident fishes. After exposure to transient predators for 3 days, fish were recollected and the attributes of survivors from patch reefs that sustained high mortality were compared to in iduals from patch reefs that experienced low mortality. Seven characteristics of in iduals, which were indicative of previous and present body condition, were compared between groups. Predation was found to be selective for fish that grew slowly in the latter third of their larval phase, were low in total lipids, and had a high standardized weight (Fulton's K). Traits developed in the larval phase can strongly influence the survival of in iduals over this critical transition period for organisms with complex life cycles.
School is out on noisy reefs: the effect of boat noise on predator learning and survival of juvenile coral reef fishes
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 31-01-2018
Abstract: Noise produced by anthropogenic activities is increasing in many marine ecosystems. We investigated the effect of playback of boat noise on fish cognition. We focused on noise from small motorboats, since its occurrence can dominate soundscapes in coastal communities, the number of noise-producing vessels is increasing rapidly and their proximity to marine life has the potential to cause deleterious effects. Cognition—or the ability of in iduals to learn and remember information—is crucial, given that most species rely on learning to achieve fitness-promoting tasks, such as finding food, choosing mates and recognizing predators. The caveat with cognition is its latent effect: the in idual that fails to learn an important piece of information will live normally until the moment where it needs the information to make a fitness-related decision. Such latent effects can easily be overlooked by traditional risk assessment methods. Here, we conducted three experiments to assess the effect of boat noise playbacks on the ability of fish to learn to recognize predation threats, using a common, conserved learning paradigm. We found that fish that were trained to recognize a novel predator while being exposed to ‘reef + boat noise’ playbacks failed to subsequently respond to the predator, while their ‘reef noise’ counterparts responded appropriately. We repeated the training, giving the fish three opportunities to learn three common reef predators, and released the fish in the wild. Those trained in the presence of ‘reef + boat noise’ playbacks survived 40% less than the ‘reef noise’ controls over our 72 h monitoring period, a performance equal to that of predator-naive fish. Our last experiment indicated that these results were likely due to failed learning, as opposed to stress effects from the sound exposure. Neither playbacks nor real boat noise affected survival in the absence of predator training. Our results indicate that boat noise has the potential to cause latent effects on learning long after the stressor has gone.
Effects of ocean acidification on learning in coral reef fishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 03-02-2012
Reproductive acclimation to increased water temperature in a tropical reef fish
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 13-05-2014
Parasites of coral reef fish larvae: its role in the pelagic larval stage
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 19-01-2019
Social learning improves survivorship at a life-history transition
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-09-2012
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-012-2458-X
Abstract: During settlement, one of the main threats faced by in iduals relates to their ability to detect and avoid predators. Information on predator identities can be gained either through direct experience or from the observation and/or interaction with others, a process known as social learning. In this form of predator recognition, less experienced in iduals learn from experienced members within the social group, without having to directly interact with a predator. In this study, we examined the role of social learning in predator recognition in relation to the survival benefits for the damselfish, Pomacentrus wardi, during their settlement transition. Specifically, our experiments aimed to determine if P. wardi are capable of transmitting the recognition of the odour of a predator, Pseudochromis fuscus, to conspecifics. The experiment also examined whether there was a difference in the rate of survival between in iduals that directly learnt the predator odour and those which acquired the information through social learning compared to naïve in iduals. Results show that naïve P. wardi are able to learn a predator's identity from experienced in iduals via social learning. Furthermore, survival between in iduals that directly learnt the predator's identity and those that learnt through social learning did not significantly differ, with fish from both treatments surviving at least five times better than controls. These results demonstrate that experience may play a vital role in determining the outcome of predator-prey interactions, highlighting that social learning improves the ability of prey to avoid and/or escape predation at a life-history transition.
A cost-effective method of preparing larval fish otoliths for reading using enzyme digestion and staining
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-2002
Compensating in the wild: Is flexible growth the key to early juvenile survival?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 04-10-2007
Climate change may affect fish through an interaction of parental and juvenile environments
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-03-2012
Boat noise affects the early life history of two damselfishes
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARPOLBUL.2019.02.054
Abstract: Anthropogenic noise can have a negative effect on the physiology and survival of marine fishes. Most research has focused on later life-stages, and few studies have investigated the effects of human-induced noise on embryogenesis. The current study investigated whether playback of motorboat noise affected the embryogenesis of the coral reef damselfishes, Amphiprion melanopus and Acanthochromis polyacanthus. Embryos reared under the playback of boat noise had faster heart rates compared to the ambient reef controls. The effects of noise on morphological development differed between species and the fundamental interrelationships between early life history characteristics changed dramatically under boat noise for Ac. polyacanthus. Noise treatments did not alter the survival rates of embryos under laboratory conditions. Although species specific, our findings suggest that anthropogenic noise causes physiological responses in fishes during embryogenesis and these changes have direct impacts on their development and these alterations may have carry-over effects to later life stages.
It Pays to Be Pushy: Intracohort Interference Competition between Two Reef Fishes
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 10-08-2012
Trade-offs in the ecological versatility of juvenile wrasses: An experimental evaluation
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2014
Protogyny in a tropical damselfish: females queue for future benefit
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 30-06-2016
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.2198
Abstract: Membership of the group is a balance between the benefits associated with group living and the cost of socially constrained growth and breeding opportunities, but the costs and benefits are seldom examined. The goal of the present study was to explore the trade-offs associated with group living for a sex-changing, potentially protogynous coral reef fish, the Ambon damselfish, Pomacentrus amboinensis . Extensive s ling showed that the species exhibits resource defence polygyny, where dominant males guard a nest site that is visited by females. P. amboinensis have a longevity of about 6.5 years on the northern Great Barrier Reef. While the species can change sex consistent with being a protogynous hermaphrodite, it is unclear the extent to which the species uses this capability. Social groups are comprised of one reproductive male, 1–7 females and a number of juveniles. Females live in a linear dominance hierarchy, with the male being more aggressive to the beta-female than the alpha-female, who exhibits lower levels of ovarian cortisol. Surveys and a tagging study indicated that groups were stable for at least three months. A passive integrated transponder tag study showed that males spawn with females from their own group, but also females from neighbouring groups. In situ behavioural observations found that alpha-females have priority of access to the nest site that the male guarded, and access to higher quality foraging areas. Male removal studies suggest that the alpha-females can change sex to take over from the male when the position becomes available. Examination of otolith microstructure showed that those in iduals which change sex to males have different embryonic characteristics at hatching, suggesting that success may involve a component that is parentally endowed. The relative importance of parental effects and social organisation in affecting the importance of female queuing is yet to be studied, but will likely depend on the strength of social control by the dominant members of the group.
Role of water flow regime in the swimming behaviour and escape performance of a schooling fish
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 2018
DOI: 10.1242/BIO.031997
Abstract: Animals are exposed to variable and rapidly changing environmental flow conditions, such as wind in terrestrial habitats and currents in aquatic systems. For fishes, previous work suggests that in iduals exhibit flow-induced changes in aerobic swimming performance. Yet, no one has examined whether similar plasticity is found in fast-start escape responses, which are modulated by anaerobic swimming performance, sensory stimuli and neural control. In this study, we used fish from wild schools of the tropical damselfish Chromis viridis from shallow reefs surrounding Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The flow regime at each site was measured to ascertain differences in mean water flow speed and its temporal variability. Swimming and escape behaviour in fish schools were video-recorded in a laminar-flow swim tunnel. Though each school's swimming behaviour (i.e., alignment and cohesion) was not associated with local flow conditions, traits linked with fast-start performance (particularly turning rate and the distance traveled with the response) were significantly greater in in iduals from high-flow habitats. This stronger performance may occur due to a number of mechanisms, such as an in-situ training effect or greater selection pressure for faster performance phenotypes in areas with high flow speed.
Presence of cleaner wrasse increases the recruitment of damselfishes to coral reefs
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-2015
Abstract: Mutualisms affect the bio ersity, distribution and abundance of biological communities. However, ecological processes that drive mutualism-related shifts in population structure are often unclear and must be examined to elucidate how complex, multi-species mutualistic networks are formed and structured. In this study, we investigated how the presence of key marine mutualistic partners can drive the organisation of local communities on coral reefs. The cleaner wrasse, Labroides dimidiatus , removes ectoparasites and reduces stress hormones for multiple reef fish species, and their presence on coral reefs increases fish abundance and ersity. Such changes in population structure could be driven by increased recruitment of larval fish at settlement, or by post-settlement processes such as modified levels of migration or predation. We conducted a controlled field experiment to examine the effect of cleaners on recruitment processes of a common group of reef fishes, and showed that small patch reefs (61–285 m 2 ) with cleaner wrasse had higher abundances of damselfish recruits than reefs from which cleaner wrasse had been removed over a 12-year period. However, the presence of cleaner wrasse did not affect species ersity of damselfish recruits. Our study provides evidence of the ecological processes that underpin changes in local population structure in the presence of a key mutualistic partner.
Direct and indirect effects of interspecific competition in a highly partitioned guild of reef fishes
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 08-2018
DOI: 10.1002/ECS2.2389
Social familiarity improves fast-start escape performance in schooling fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 20-07-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S42003-021-02407-4
Abstract: Using social groups (i.e. schools) of the tropical damselfish Chromis viridis , we test how familiarity through repeated social interactions influences fast-start responses, the primary defensive behaviour in a range of taxa, including fish, sharks, and larval hibians. We focus on reactivity through response latency and kinematic performance (i.e. agility and propulsion) following a simulated predator attack, while distinguishing between first and subsequent responders (direct response to stimulation versus response triggered by integrated direct and social stimulation, respectively). In familiar schools, first and subsequent responders exhibit shorter latency than unfamiliar in iduals, demonstrating that familiarity increases reactivity to direct and, potentially, social stimulation. Further, familiarity modulates kinematic performance in subsequent responders, demonstrated by increased agility and propulsion. These findings demonstrate that the benefits of social recognition and memory may enhance in idual fitness through greater survival of predator attacks.
Intrageneric variation in antipredator responses of coral reef fishes affected by ocean acidification: implications for climate change projections on marine communities
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-05-2011
Suspended sediment alters predator-prey interactions between two coral reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-12-2013
Assessing and mitigating impacts of motorboat noise on nesting damselfish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2020
Estimating total abundance of a large temperate-reef fish using visual strip-transects
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-1987
DOI: 10.1007/BF00397964
Diel CO2 cycles reduce severity of behavioural abnormalities in coral reef fish under ocean acidification
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 31-08-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-10378-Y
Abstract: Elevated CO 2 levels associated with ocean acidification (OA) have been shown to alter behavioural responses in coral reef fishes. However, all studies to date have used stable p CO 2 treatments, not considering the substantial diel p CO 2 variation that occurs in shallow reef habitats. Here, we reared juvenile damselfish, Acanthochromis polyacanthus , and clownfish, Amphiprion percula , at stable and diel cycling p CO 2 treatments in two experiments. As expected, absolute lateralization of A. polyacanthus and response to predator cue of Am. percula were negatively affected in fish reared at stable, elevated p CO 2 in both experiments. However, diel p CO 2 fluctuations reduced the negative effects of OA on behaviour. Importantly, in experiment two, behavioural abnormalities that were present in fish reared at stable 750 µatm CO 2 were largely absent in fish reared at 750 ± 300 µatm CO 2 . Overall, we show that diel p CO 2 cycles can substantially reduce the severity of behavioural abnormalities caused by elevated CO 2 . Thus, past studies may have over-estimated the impacts of OA on the behavioural performance of coral reef fishes. Furthermore, our results suggest that diel p CO 2 cycles will delay the onset of behavioural abnormalities in natural populations.
Impact of motorboats on fish embryos depends on engine type
Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP)
Date: 2018
Effects of elevated CO2on predator avoidance behaviour by reef fishes is not altered by experimental test water
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 06-10-2016
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.2501
Abstract: Pioneering studies into the effects of elevated CO 2 on the behaviour of reef fishes often tested high-CO 2 reared fish using control water in the test arena. While subsequent studies using rearing treatment water (control or high CO 2 ) in the test arena have confirmed the effects of high CO 2 on a range of reef fish behaviours, a further investigation into the use of different test water in the experimental arena is warranted. Here, we used a fully factorial design to test the effect of rearing treatment water (control or high CO 2 ) and experimental test water (control or high CO 2 ) on antipredator responses of larval reef fishes. We tested antipredator behaviour in larval clownfish Amphiprion percula and ambon damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis , two species that have been used in previous high CO2 experiments. Specifically, we tested if: (1) using control or high CO 2 water in a two channel flume influenced the response of larval clownfish to predator odour and (2) using control or high CO 2 water in the test arena influenced the escape response of larval damselfish to a startle stimulus. Finally, (3) because the effects of high CO 2 on fish behaviour appear to be caused by altered function of the GABA-A neurotransmitter we tested if antipredator behaviours were restored in clownfish treated with a GABA antagonist (gabazine) in high CO 2 water. Larval clownfish reared from hatching in control water (496 µatm) strongly avoided predator cue whereas larval clownfish reared from hatching in high CO 2 (1,022 µatm) were attracted to the predator cue, as has been reported in previous studies. There was no effect on fish responses of using either control or high CO 2 water in the flume. Larval damselfish reared for four days in high CO 2 (1,051 µatm) exhibited a slower response to a startle stimulus and slower escape speed compared with fish reared in control conditions (464 µatm). There was no effect of test water on escape responses. Treatment of high-CO 2 reared clownfish with 4 mg l −1 gabazine in high CO 2 seawater restored the normal response to predator odour, as has been previously reported with fish tested in control water. Our results show that using control water in the experimental trials did not influence the results of previous studies on antipredator behaviour of reef fishes and also supports the results of novel experiments conducted in natural reef habitat at ambient CO 2 levels.
Development and changes at settlement in the barbel structure of the reef fish, Upeneus tragula (Mullidae)
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 07-1993
DOI: 10.1007/BF00004634
Habitat degradation is threatening reef replenishment by making fish fearless
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 17-03-2014
Abstract: Habitat degradation is one of the 'Big Five' drivers of bio ersity loss. However, the mechanisms responsible for this progressive loss of bio ersity are poorly understood. In marine ecosystems, corals play the role of ecosystem engineers, providing essential habitat for hundreds of thousands of species and hence their health is crucial to the stability of the whole ecosystem. Climate change is causing coral bleaching and degradation, and while this has been known for a while, little do we know about the cascading consequences of these events on the complex interrelationships between predators and their prey. The goal of our study was to investigate, under completely natural conditions, the effect of coral degradation on predator-prey interactions. Settlement stage ambon damselfish (Pomacentrus amboinensis), a common tropical fish, were released on patches of healthy or dead corals, and their behaviours in situ were measured, along with their response to injured conspecific cues, a common risk indicator. This study also explored the effect of habitat degradation on natural levels of mortality at a critical life-history transition. We found that juveniles in dead corals displayed risk-prone behaviours, sitting further away and higher up on the reef patch, and failed to respond to predation cues, compared to those on live coral patches. In addition, in situ survival experiments over 48 h indicated that juveniles on dead coral habitats had a 75% increase in predation-related mortality, compared to fish released on live, healthy coral habitats. Our results provide the first of many potential mechanisms through which habitat degradation can impact the relationship between prey and predators in the coral reef ecosystem. As the proportion of dead coral increases, the recruitment and replenishment of coral reef fishes will be threatened, and so will the level of ersity in these bio ersity hot spots.
Effect of hunger on the response to, and the production of, chemical alarm cues in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2008
BEHAVIORALLY INDUCED MATERNAL STRESS IN A FISH INFLUENCES PROGENY QUALITY BY A HORMONAL MECHANISM
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 09-1998
Larval growth predicts the recruitment success of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-2002
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-002-0918-4
Abstract: While growth rates of pelagic larvae have been argued to be one of the principal determinants of the recruitment success of temperate marine fishes, it is not known if this is the case in the tropics. Here, we use larval growth histories derived from otoliths of a Caribbean reef fish to show that monthly variation in the intensity of settlement and recruitment of pelagic juveniles onto reefs is positively correlated with variation in growth rates 1-2 weeks after larvae begin feeding. Our results suggest that the processes thought to underlie recruitment of marine fishes in temperate regions may also operate in the tropics and contrasts with current research on the causes of recruitment variability in coral reef fishes, which emphasises the role of larval transport.
Sensory cues of a top‐predator indirectly control a reef fish mesopredator
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-05-2015
DOI: 10.1111/OIK.02116
Condition-dependent responses of fish to motorboats
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 11-2020
Abstract: Anthropogenic noise is a pollutant of global concern that has been shown to have a wide range of detrimental effects on multiple taxa. However, most noise studies to-date consider only overall population means, ignoring the potential for intraspecific variation in responses. Here, we used field experiments on Australia's Great Barrier Reef to assess condition-dependent responses of blue-green damselfish ( Chromis viridis ) to real motorboats. Despite finding no effect of motorboats on a physiological measure (opercular beat rate OBR), we found a condition-dependent effect on anti-predator behaviour. In ambient conditions, startle responses to a looming stimulus were equivalent for relatively poor- and good-condition fish, but when motorboats were passing, poorer-condition fish startled at significantly shorter distances to the looming stimulus than better-condition fish. This greater susceptibility to motorboats in poorer-condition fish may be the result of generally more elevated stress levels, as poorer-condition fish had a higher pre-testing OBR than those in better condition. Considering intraspecific variation in responses is important to avoid misrepresenting potential effects of anthropogenic noise and to ensure the best management and mitigation of this pervasive pollutant.
Social learning of predators by coral reef fish: does observer number influence acquisition of information?
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-04-2014
Habitat choice, recruitment and the response of coral reef fishes to coral degradation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-06-2007
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-007-0773-4
Abstract: The global degradation of coral reefs is having profound effects on the structure and species richness of associated reef fish assemblages. Historically, variation in the composition of fish communities has largely been attributed to factors affecting settlement of reef fish larvae. However, the mechanisms that determine how fish settlers respond to different stages of coral stress and the extent of coral loss on fish settlement are poorly understood. Here, we examined the effects of habitat degradation on fish settlement using a two-stage experimental approach. First, we employed laboratory choice experiments to test how settlers responded to early and terminal stages of coral degradation. We then quantified the settlement response of the whole reef fish assemblage in a field perturbation experiment. The laboratory choice experiments tested how juveniles from nine common Indo-Pacific fishes chose among live colonies, partially degraded colonies, and dead colonies with recent algal growth. Many species did not distinguish between live and partially degraded colonies, suggesting settlement patterns are resilient to the early stages of declining coral health. Several species preferred live or degraded corals, and none preferred to associate with dead, algal-covered colonies. In the field experiment, fish recruitment to coral colonies was monitored before and after the introduction of a coral predator (the crown-of-thorns starfish) and compared with undisturbed control colonies. Starfish reduced live coral cover by 95-100%, causing persistent negative effects on the recruitment of coral-associated fishes. Rapid reductions in new recruit abundance, greater numbers of unoccupied colonies and a shift in the recruit community structure from one dominated by coral-associated fishes before degradation to one predominantly composed of algal-associated fish species were observed. Our results suggest that while resistant to coral stress, coral death alters the process of replenishment of coral reef fish communities.
Coral degradation impairs learning of non‐predators by Whitetail damselfish
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 25-03-2021
Abstract: A prerequisite for effective antipredator responses is the ability of a prey to distinguish animals that pose a threat from those that do not. Prey often have efficient learning mechanisms to learn threats but learning to recognize nonpredators may be equally or more important. Moreover, the ability to generalize learned information is of key importance for prey animals. Prey take information they know about one species to make ‘educated guesses’ about the predatory/nonpredatory status of other unknown species. Here, we investigate the ability of Whitetail damselfish Pomacentrus chrysurus to learn the identity of non‐predators and then generalize their responses to other unknown animals. Our work is completed within the context of unprecedented habitat degradation in reef ecosystems. When corals die, the remaining skeleton is colonized by algae, cyanobacteria and sessile invertebrates. These opportunistic colonists change the physical and chemical landscape of the reef and hence the background odour in which predator and non‐predator recognition occurs. Our results indicated that Whitetail damselfish learn to classify Moonwrasse Thalasomma lunare as a non‐predator through the process of latent inhibition, whereby the prey are repeatedly exposed to Moonwrasse odour multiple times in the absence of negative reinforcement. These fish subsequently generalized their nonpredator recognition to other unknown wrasse, but not distantly related fish. Of key importance was our finding that the patterns and extent of non‐predator learning and generalization were dramatically altered in dead coral habitats. As predicted, prey that learned the Moonwrasse as a nonpredator in live coral environments did not subsequently respond to Moonwrasse when we tried to teach them Moonwrasse was a predator in live coral. However, this non‐predator recognition was reduced in dead coral environments. Moreover, generalization completely failed when we changed from live to dead coral environments. Juvenile damselfishes need to rapidly catalogue the identity of unknown animals when they arrive at a reef. Changing background odours, that occur with changing tides and currents, means that prey need to learn non‐predator identities separately in each water source. This cognitive challenge likely has significant survival consequence in a changing environment. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Impact of global warming and rising CO2 levels on coral reef fishes: what hope for the future?
Publisher: The Company of Biologists
Date: 15-11-2012
DOI: 10.1242/JEB.074765
Abstract: Average sea-surface temperature and the amount of CO2 dissolved in the ocean are rising as a result of increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2. Many coral reef fishes appear to be living close to their thermal optimum, and for some of them, even relatively moderate increases in temperature (2–4°C) lead to significant reductions in aerobic scope. Reduced aerobic capacity could affect population sustainability because less energy can be devoted to feeding and reproduction. Coral reef fishes seem to have limited capacity to acclimate to elevated temperature as adults, but recent research shows that developmental and transgenerational plasticity occur, which might enable some species to adjust to rising ocean temperatures. Predicted increases in PCO2, and associated ocean acidification, can also influence the aerobic scope of coral reef fishes, although there is considerable interspecific variation, with some species exhibiting a decline and others an increase in aerobic scope at near-future CO2 levels. As with thermal effects, there are transgenerational changes in response to elevated CO2 that could mitigate impacts of high CO2 on the growth and survival of reef fishes. An unexpected discovery is that elevated CO2 has a dramatic effect on a wide range of behaviours and sensory responses of reef fishes, with consequences for the timing of settlement, habitat selection, predator avoidance and in idual fitness. The underlying physiological mechanism appears to be the interference of acid–base regulatory processes with brain neurotransmitter function. Differences in the sensitivity of species and populations to global warming and rising CO2 have been identified that will lead to changes in fish community structure as the oceans warm and becomes more acidic however, the prospect for acclimation and adaptation of populations to these threats also needs to be considered. Ultimately, it will be the capacity for species to adjust to environmental change over coming decades that will determine the impact of climate change on marine ecosystems.
The population genetic structure of a common tropical damselfish on the Great Barrier Reef and eastern Papua New Guinea
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 03-02-2010
Damsel in distress: captured damselfish prey emit chemical cues that attract secondary predators and improve escape chances
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-11-2015
Abstract: In aquatic environments, many prey animals possess damage-released chemical alarm cues that elicit antipredator behaviours in responsive con- and heterospecifics. Despite considerable study, the selective advantage of alarm cues remains unclear. In an attempt to investigate one of the more promising hypotheses concerning the evolution of alarm cues, we examined whether the cue functions in a fashion analogous to the distress vocalizations emitted by many terrestrial animals. Our results suggest that chemical alarm cues in damselfish ( Pomacentridae ) may have evolved to benefit the cue sender by attracting secondary predators who disrupt the predation event, allowing the prey a greater chance to escape. The coral reef piscivore, the dusky dottyback ( Pseudochromis fuscus ), chemically eavesdrops on predation events and uses chemical alarm cues from fish prey (lemon damselfish Pomacentrus moluccensis ) in an attempt to find and steal prey from primary predators. Field studies showed that Ps. fuscus aggregate at sites where prey alarm cue has been experimentally released. Furthermore, secondary predators attempted to steal captured prey of primary predators in laboratory trials and enhanced prey escape chances by 35–40%. These results are the first, to the best of our knowledge, to demonstrate a mechanism by which marine fish may benefit from the production and release of alarm cues, and highlight the complex and important role that semiochemicals play in marine predator–prey interactions.
Interspecific differences in how habitat degradation affects escape response
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-03-2017
DOI: 10.1038/S41598-017-00521-0
Abstract: Degradation of habitats is widespread and a leading cause of extinctions. Our study determined whether the change in the chemical landscape associated with coral degradation affected the way three fish species use olfactory information to optimize their fast-start escape response. Water from degraded coral habitats affected the fast-start response of the three closely-related damselfishes, but its effect differed markedly among species. The Ward’s damselfish ( Pomacentrus wardi ) was most affected by water from degraded coral, and displayed shorter distances covered in the fast-start and slower escape speeds compared to fish in water from healthy coral. In the presence of alarm odours, which indicate an imminent threat, the Ambon damsel ( P. amboinensis ) displayed enhanced fast-start performance in water from healthy coral, but not when in water from degraded coral. In contrast, while the white-tailed damsel ( P. chrysurus ) was similarly primed by its alarm odour, the elevation of fast start performance was not altered by water from degraded coral. These species-specific responses to the chemistry of degraded water and alarm odours suggest differences in the way alarm odours interact with the chemical landscape, and differences in the way species balance information about threats, with likely impacts on the survival of affected species in degraded habitats.
Effects of elevated water temperature and food availability on the reproductive performance of a coral reef fish
Publisher: Inter-Research Science Center
Date: 22-02-2010
DOI: 10.3354/MEPS08366
Anthropogenic noise increases fish mortality by predation
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 05-02-2016
DOI: 10.1038/NCOMMS10544
Abstract: Noise-generating human activities affect hearing, communication and movement in terrestrial and aquatic animals, but direct evidence for impacts on survival is rare. We examined effects of motorboat noise on post-settlement survival and physiology of a prey fish species and its performance when exposed to predators. Both playback of motorboat noise and direct disturbance by motorboats elevated metabolic rate in Ambon damselfish ( Pomacentrus amboinensis ), which when stressed by motorboat noise responded less often and less rapidly to simulated predatory strikes. Prey were captured more readily by their natural predator (dusky dottyback, Pseudochromis fuscus ) during exposure to motorboat noise compared with ambient conditions, and more than twice as many prey were consumed by the predator in field experiments when motorboats were passing. Our study suggests that a common source of noise in the marine environment has the potential to impact fish demography, highlighting the need to include anthropogenic noise in management plans.
Interannual variation in the larval development of a coral reef fish in response to temperature and associated environmental factors
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 30-10-2015
Condition and growth of reef fish at settlement: Is it important?
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 06-1998
An alternative method for the preservation of tropical fish larvae
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-2006
Daily variation in behavioural lateralization is linked to predation stress in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2017
Microstructure of settlement-marks in the otoliths of tropical reef fishes
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-06-1999
Growth acceleration, behaviour and otolith check marks associated with sex change in the wrasse Halichoeres miniatus
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-04-2009
Juvenile coral reef fish alter escape responses when exposed to changes in background and acute risk levels
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2017
Asymmetries in body condition and order of arrival influence competitive ability and survival in a coral reef fish
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-07-2015
DOI: 10.1007/S00442-015-3401-8
Abstract: Trade-offs between traits that influence an in idual's competitive ability are important in determining community assembly and coexistence of in iduals sharing the same resources. Populations of coral reef fish are structurally complex, so it is important to understand how these populations are shaped as a result of an in idual's suite of traits and those of its competitors. We conducted a 2 × 2 factorial field experiment that manipulated body condition (high or low, manipulated through a feeding regime) and residency (resident or intruder, where the resident arrived at the habitat 3 h before the intruder) to evaluate effects on competitive ability and survival. Prior residency alleviated the disadvantage of a low body condition with respect to aggression, which was similar between low-condition residents and high-condition intruders. However, high-condition residents displayed a significantly greater level of aggression than intruders, regardless of whether intruders were from high- or low-condition treatments. For intruders to have a high probability of becoming dominant, they needed to have a large body condition advantage. Mortality trajectories suggested that body condition modified the effect of prior residency, and intruders were more likely to suffer mortality if they had a low body condition because residents pushed them away from shelter. Our results highlight that the negative effects of some traits may be compensated for by the positive effects of other traits, and that the specific ecological context an in idual faces (such as the characteristics of its competitors) can have a major influence on successful establishment and persistence.
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