Learning about Danger: Chemical Alarm Cues and Threat‐Sensitive Assessment of Predation Risk by Fishes

Brown, G. E.; Ferrari, Maud C. O.; Chivers, Douglas P.

doi:10.1002/9781444342536.ch4

Cited by 55 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 130 publications

(166 reference statements)

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“…Under conditions of uncertain or unpredictable predation risk, prey may benefit from relying on learned information about the local predation threats (Dall et al 2005;McNamara and Dall 2010). Phenotypically plastic (induced) neophobia would allow prey to benefit from behaviourally plastic response patterns while reducing the initial cost of learning (Brown et al 2011a(Brown et al , 2013. However, prey should only respond to acquired information as long as the expected payoff is greater than the costs associated with responding.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This means that individuals that are able to adjust their behaviour to match current levels of risk should have a considerable advantage over individuals with fixed behavioural responses. Flexibility should allow prey animals to reduce time and energy spent avoiding irrelevant cues (Dall et al 2005;McNamara and Dall 2010;Brown et al 2011a). Learning to recognize predators typifies this flexibility and is therefore of paramount importance for prey animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience

Brown¹,

Demers²,

Joyce³

et al. 2015

Anim Cogn

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Exposure to conditions of elevated predation risk, even for relatively short periods, has been shown to induce neophobic responses to novel predators. Such phenotypically plastic responses should allow prey to exhibit costly anti-predator behaviour to novel cues only in situations where the risk of predation is high. While there is evidence that the level of background risk shapes the strength of induced neophobia, we know little about how long neophobic responses are retained. Here we exposed juvenile convict cichlids (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) to three background levels of short-term background risk and then tested their responses to novel predator odours. Cichlids exposed to low risk did not show neophobic responses, while those exposed to intermediate and high risk did. Using extinction trials, we demonstrate that the retention of neophobic responses is greater among cichlids exposed to high versus intermediate predation risk conditions. Moreover, we found much longer retention of the neophobic responses when cichlids were tested a single time compared to when they were tested repeatedly in the extinction trials. This work supports the prediction that neophobic responses to specific odours are relatively long lasting but can quickly wane if the cues are experienced repeatedly without them being associated with risk. It is clear that background level of risk and the frequency of exposure to novel cues are crucial factors in determining the retention of risk-related information among prey.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience

Brown¹,

Demers²,

Joyce³

et al. 2015

Anim Cogn

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For example, Shively et al (1996) found that newly released, hatchery-reared Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawyt scha comprised the majority of the diet of a native predator (the northern squawfish Ptycho chei lus oregonensis) up to 1 wk after hatchery releases. The widespread nature of predation in reducing the effectiveness of stocking programs has led to a rich body of research focused on the ability of prey to learn to recognize novel predator odors (reviewed in Brown et al 2011a). However, the results of studies investigating the effectiveness of predator recognition training are mixed (Hawkins et al 2007, Wahl et al 2012.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A large body of research has focused on the use of chemical alarm cues and other olfactory stimuli in predator recognition training (Brown et al 2011a). Fishes use olfaction to identify a predation threat in 2 ways: through recognition of the odor of a predator, and through conspecific chemical alarm cues.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The release of an alarm substance allows conspecifics to initiate anti-predator defenses and to learn to identify new predators. There is wide support in the literature that fishes can learn to recognize novel predators by associating a predator's odor with the release of alarm cue (Brown et al 2011a and references therein). The widespread ability of many fish species to use chemical cues to identify novel predators, as well as to detect and appropriately respond to known predators, has led many to suggest that the survival of hatchery-raised fishes may be improved by exposing these fishes to predator odor in conjunction with an alarm cue prior to placement into a natural environment (Brown & Laland 2001, Fernö et al 2011.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retention of learned predator recognition in an endangered sucker Chasmistes liorus liorus

Archer¹,

Crowl²

2014

Aquat. Biol.

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Captive propagation and restocking of native fishes is a common conservation strategy. However, hatchery-reared fishes are predator-naïve, and thus many stocked fishes are lost to predation, reducing the effectiveness of restocking programs. Many fishes use odor to identify known predators and, through the detection of chemical alarm cues, learn to recognize novel predators. A large body of research has focused on the efficacy of using predator odors in conjunction with chemical alarm cues to train hatchery-reared fishes to recognize predators prior to stocking. While it appears possible to train most fishes to recognize a novel predator through exposure to olfactory cues, few studies have shown that this training translates into increased survival for trained fishes. Recently, it has been proposed that hatchery fishes do not retain the learned associations long enough for hatchery training to result in increased survival, though few studies have quantified how long hatchery-reared fishes do retain learned associations. We conducted a series of laboratory experiments that demonstrate hatchery-raised June sucker Chasmistes liorus liorus, an endangered sucker endemic to Utah Lake, Utah, USA, can learn to recognize a novel predator (largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides). We also show that this learned association is retained for at least 2 d, but is lost by 10 d after initial exposure. Our results suggest that in the absence of reinforcement, June sucker do not retain learned predator recognition long enough to expect hatchery training to translate into increased survival.

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A death in the family: Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) avoidance of confamilial alarm cues diminishes with phylogenetic distance

Hume

Wagner

2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Alarm signals released after predator attack function as reliable public information revealing areas of high risk. The utility of this information can extend beyond species boundaries, benefiting heterospecifics capable of recognizing and responding appropriately to the signal. Nonmutually exclusive hypotheses explaining the acquisition of heterospecific reactivity to cues suggest it could be conserved phylogenetically following its evolution in a common ancestor (a species‐level effect) and/or learned during periods of shared risk (a population‐level effect; e.g., shared predators). Using a laboratory‐based space‐use behavioral assay, we tested the response of sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) to the damage‐released alarm cues of five confamilial (sympatric and allopatric) species and two distantly related out‐groups: a sympatric teleost (white sucker Catostomus commersonii) and an allopatric agnathan (Atlantic hagfish Myxine glutinosa). We found that sea lamprey differed in their response to conspecific and heterospecific odors; exhibiting progressively weaker avoidance of cues derived from more phylogenetically distant confamilials regardless of current overlap in distribution. Odors from out‐groups elicited no response. These findings suggest that a damage‐released alarm cue is at least partially conserved within the Petromyzontidae and that sea lamprey perceives predator attacks directed to closely related taxa. These findings are consistent with similar observations from gastropod, amphibian and bony fish taxa, and we discuss this in an eco‐evo context to provide a plausible explanation for the acquisition and maintenance of the response in sea lamprey.

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Learning about Danger: Chemical Alarm Cues and Threat‐Sensitive Assessment of Predation Risk by Fishes

Cited by 55 publications

References 130 publications

Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience

Retention of neophobic predator recognition in juvenile convict cichlids: effects of background risk and recent experience

Retention of learned predator recognition in an endangered sucker Chasmistes liorus liorus

A death in the family: Sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus) avoidance of confamilial alarm cues diminishes with phylogenetic distance

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