Pursuit and Evasion Strategies in the Predator–Prey Interactions of Fishes

Abstract

Predator-prey interactions are critical to the biology of a diversity of animals. Although prey capture is determined by the direction, velocity, and timing of motion by both animals, it is generally unclear what strategies are employed by predators and prey to guide locomotion. Here we review our research on fishes that tests the pursuit strategy of predators and the evasion strategy of prey through kinematic measurements and agent-based models. This work demonstrates that fish predators track prey with variations on a deviated-pursuit strategy that is guided by visual cues. Fish prey employ a mixed strategy that varies with factors such as the direction of a predator’s approach. Our models consider the stochastic nature of interactions by incorporating measured probability distributions to accurately predict measurements of survivorship. A sensitivity analysis of these models shows the importance of the response distance of prey to their survival. Collectively, this work demonstrates how strategy affects the outcome of predator-prey interactions and articulates the roles of sensing, control, and propulsion. The research program that we have developed has the potential to offer a framework for the study of strategy in the predator-prey interactions of a variety of animals.

Penguin‐mounted video camera provides new insights into predator–prey interactions with prey fish

“…Predation acts as a strong selective pressure on the behaviors of both predators and prey (Peterson et al, 2021; Suraci et al, 2022). However, the opportunity to observe direct interactions between predator and prey in the wild is limited, especially for aquatic animals.…”

Pursuit-evasion differential games of players with different speeds in spaces of different dimensions

“…Problem 1 (PE game): Consider two players, P and E, modeled by (1), where a pursuer moving in 3D space and an evader moving in a 2D plane. Under Assumption 1 and 2, find the optimal strategies for these two players to achieve (for P ) or delay (for E) the capture.…”

“…Problem 2 (TAD game): Consider two players, P and E, modeled by (1), where a pursuer moving in 3D space and an evader moving in a 2D plane, and a static target for the evader to approach. The objective of E is to get close to the target without being captured, while the objective of P is to capture E at the farthest distance to the target as possible.…”

“…Pursuit-evasion (PE) games have attracted a lot of interest in recent years, showing the wide applicability in modeling many adversarial problems, such as predator-prey problems in biology [1], [2], and aerial combat in military [3], [4]. In classical one-pursuer-one-evader games [5], the pursuer tries to capture the evader as soon as possible while the evader thinks the contrary.…”

Stationary and oscillatory patterns of a food chain model with diffusion and predator-taxis

“…This phenomenon is possibly occurs in predator-prey interactive population models because some predators know how to hunt evasive prey. For example, fish predators know how to pursue and capture evasive prey once they find, which have been disclosed recently by Matthew J. McHenry in [52].…”