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Effect of predator exposure on the performance and survival of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus)

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Abstract

The influence of predator exposure on the survival of hatchery red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus was investigated under laboratory conditions. Several prey-capture (attack distance, mean attack velocity, capture time, and gape cycle duration) and anti-predator (reaction distance, response distance, mean velocity, and maximum velocity) performance variables were quantified using high-speed video for juvenile red drum (25–30 mm standard length, L S ) reared with and without predators (pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides). Univariate contrasts of prey-capture events demonstrated that attack distance (mean ± s.e.) was significantly greater in red drum reared with (1.20 ± 0.16 mm) versus without (0.65 ± 0.09 mm) pinfish predators. During anti-predator events, red drum reared with predators had approximately 300% greater reaction distance and 20%–30% greater response distance, mean velocity and maximum velocity versus fish reared without predators; however, these differences were not statistically significant. Following video assessments, a series of mortality experiments were conducted using free-ranging pinfish predators. Mortality rates (Z) ranged from 0.047 to 0.060 (Z/hr/predator) and did not differ significantly among treatments.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Robert Vega and David Abrego and the staff of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department SeaCenter hatchery in Lake Jackson, Texas for supplying the red drum used in experimental trials. We also thank Claudia Friess for her assistance in the laboratory and Coral Seafood and Bait in Galveston, Texas for providing the pinfish predators used in this study. Funding was provided by a grant from the Texas Advanced Technology Program to JRR (ATP #161979). Additional scholarship support to JLB was provided by the Coastal Conservation Association and the International Women’s Fishing Association. All trials were conducted in accordance with the University Laboratory Animal Care Committee (ULACC) animal care and use protocol (AUP #2004-101).

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  1. National Marine Fisheries Service, Southeast Regional Office, 263 13th Avenue South, Saint Petersburg, FL, 33701, USA

    Jessica L. Beck

  2. Department of Marine Biology, Texas A&M University at Galveston, 5007 Avenue U, Galveston, TX, 77551, USA

    Jay R. Rooker

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  1. Jessica L. Beck
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Correspondence to Jessica L. Beck.

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Beck, J.L., Rooker, J.R. Effect of predator exposure on the performance and survival of red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus). Environ Biol Fish 93, 267–276 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10641-011-9912-1

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