Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Predation risk assessment by olfactory and visual cues in a coral reef fish

Coral Reefs volume 27, pages 105–113 (2008)Cite this article

Abstract

Assessment of predation risk is vital for the success of an individual. Primary cues for the assessment include visual and olfactory stimuli, but the relative importance of these sources of information for risk assessment has seldom been assessed for marine fishes. This study examined the importance of visual and chemical cues in assessing risk for the star goby, Asterropteryx semipunctatus. Visual and chemical cue intensities were used that were indicative of a high threat situation. The behavioural response elicited by both the visual cues of a predator (the rock cod, Cephalopholis boenak) and the chemical alarm cues from conspecifics were similar in magnitude, with responses including a decrease in feeding strikes and moves. A bobbing behaviour was exhibited when the predator was visible and not when only exposed to the chemical alarm cue. When visual and chemical cues were presented together they yielded a stronger antipredator response than when gobies were exposed solely to conspecific alarm cues. This suggests additivity of risk assessment information at the levels of threat used, however, the goby’s response is also likely to depend on the environmental and social context of the predator–prey encounter. This study highlights the importance of chemical cues in the assessment of predation risk for a coral reef fish.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

39,95 €

Price includes VAT (Netherlands)

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

References

  • Amo L, López P, Martín J (2006) Can wall lizards combine chemical and visual cues to discriminate predatory from non-predatory snakes inside refuges? Ethology 112:478–484

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beukers-Stewart BD, Jones GP (2004) The influence of prey abundance on the feeding ecology of two piscivorous species of coral reef fish. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 299:155–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown GE (2003) Learning about danger: chemical alarm cues and local risk assessment in prey fishes. Fish Fish 4:227–234

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Brown GE, Magnavacca G (2003) Predator inspection behaviour in a characin fish: an interaction between chemical and visual information? Ethology 109:739–750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown GE, Chivers DP (2006) Learning about danger: chemical alarm cues and predation risk assessment in fishes. In: Brown C, Laland K, Krause J (eds) Fish cognition and behaviour. Blackwell Science, Oxford, pp 49–69

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown GE, Chivers DP, Smith RJF (1995) Fathead minnows avoid conspecific and heterospecific alarm pheromones in the faeces of northern pike. J Fish Biol 47:387–393

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown GE, Adrian JC, Patton T, Chivers DP (2001) Fathead minnows learn to recognize predator odour when exposed to concentrations of artificial alarm pheromone below their behavioural-response threshold. Can J Zool 79:2239–2245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown GE, Gershaneck DL, Plata DL, Golub JL (2002) Ontogenetic changes in response to heterospecific alarm cues by juvenile largemouth bass are phenotypically plastic. Behaviour 139:913–927

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers DP, Smith RJF (1998) Chemical alarm signaling in aquatic predator–prey systems: a review and prospectus. Ecoscience 5:315–321

    Google Scholar 

  • Chivers DP, Brown GE, Smith RJF (1996) The evolution of chemical alarm signals: attracting predators benefits alarm signal senders. Am Nat 148:649–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers DP, Mirza RS, Bryer PJ, Kiesecker JM (2001) Threat-sensitive predator avoidance by slimy sculpins: understanding the importance of visual versus chemical information. Can J Zool 79:867–873

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chivers DP, Mirza RS, Johnston JG (2002) Learned recognition of heterospecific alarm cues enhances survival during encounters with predators. Behaviour 139:929–938

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dugatkin LA, Godin J-GJ (1992) Predator inspection, shoaling and foraging under predation hazard in the Trinidadian guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Environ Biol Fish 34:265–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dupuch A, Magnan P, Dill LM (2004) Sensitivity of northern redbelly dace, Phoxinus eos, to chemical alarm cues. Can J Zool 82:407–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Engstrom-Ost J, Lehtiniemi M (2004) Threat-sensitive predator avoidance by pike larvae. J Fish Biol 65:251–261

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferrari MC, Messier O, Chivers DP (2006) The nose knows: minnows determine predator proximity and density through detection of predator odours. Anim Behav 72:927–932

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Golub JL, Brown GE (2003) Are all signals the same? Ontogenetic change in the response to conspecific and heterospecific chemical alarm signals by juvenile green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus). Behav Ecol Sociobiol 54:113–118

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartman EJ, Abrahams MV (2000) Sensory compensation and the detection of predators: the interaction between chemical and visual information. Proc R Soc Lond B 267:571–575

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helfman GS (1989) Threat-sensitive predator avoidance in damselfish–trumpetfish interactions. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 24:47–58

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE (1997) The diversity of fishes. Blackwell Science, Massachusetts

    Google Scholar 

  • Kats LB, Dill LM (1998) The scent of death: chemosensory assessment of predation risk by prey animals. Ecoscience 5:361–394

    Google Scholar 

  • Keppel G (1982) Design and analysis: a researcher’s handbook. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs

    Google Scholar 

  • Kiesecker JM, Chivers DP, Blaustein AR (1996) The use of chemical cues in predator recognition by western toad tadpoles. Anim Behav 52:1237–1245

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larson JK, McCormick MI (2005) The role of chemical alarm signals in facilitating learned recognition of novel chemical cues in a coral reef fish. Anim Behav 69:51–57

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Licht T (1989) Discrimination between hungry and satiated predators: the response of guppies (Poecilia reticulata) from high and low predation sites. Ethology 87:238–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Lima SL, Dill LM (1990) Behavioural decisions made under the risk of predation: a review and prospectus. Can J Zool 68:619–640

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lima SL, Bednekoff PA (1999) Temporal variation in danger drives antipredator behavior: the predation risk allocation hypothesis. Am Nat 153:649–659

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Losey GS, McFarland WN, Loew ER, Zamzow JP, Nelson PA, Marshall NJ (2003) Visual biology of Hawaiian coral reef fishes: I. Ocular transmission and visual pigments. Copeia 2003:433–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall NJ, Jennings K, McFarland WN, Loew ER, Losey GS (2003) Visual biology of Hawaiian coral reef fishes: III. Environmental light and an integrated approach to the ecology of reef fish vision. Copeia 2003:467–480

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathis A, Smith RJF (1993) Chemical alarm signals increase the survival time of fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) during encounters with northern pike (Esox lucius). Behav Ecol 4:260–265

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathis A, Vincent F (2000) Differential use of visual and chemical cues in predator recognition and threat-sensitive predator-avoidance responses by larval newts (Notophthalmus viridescens). Can J Zool 78:1646–1652

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick MI (1994) Comparison of field methods for measuring surface topography and their associations with a tropical reef fish assemblage. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 112:87–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCormick MI, Larson JK (2007) Field verification of the use of chemical alarm cues in a coral reef fish. Coral Reefs. doi:10.1007/s00338-007-0221-2

  • Mirza R, Chivers D (2000) Predator-recognition training enhances survival of brook trout: evidence from laboratory and field-enclosure studies. Can J Zool 78:2198–2208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza RS, Chivers DP (2001a) Do chemical alarm signals enhance survival in aquatic vertebrates? An analysis of the current research paradigm. In: Marchlewska-Koj A, Lepri JJ, Müller-Schwarze D (eds) Chemical signals in vertebrates, vol 9. Plenum Press, New York, pp 19–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Mirza RS, Chivers DP (2001b) Are alarm cues conserved within salmonid fishes. J Chem Ecol 27:1641–1655

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mirza RS, Scott JJ, Chivers DP (2001) Differential responses of male and female red swordtails to chemical alarm cues. J Fish Biol 59:716–728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy KE, Pitcher TJ (1997) Predator attack motivation influences the inspection behaviour of European minnows. J Fish Biol 50:407–417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olivotto I, Mosconi G, Maradonna F, Cardinali M, Carnevali O (2002) Diplodus sargus interrenal-pituitary response: chemical communication in stressed fish. Gen Comp Endocrinol 127:66–70

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Pollock MS, Chivers DP (2004) The effects of density on the learned recognition of heterospecific alarm cues. Ethology 110:341–249

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randall DJ, Allen GR, Steene RC (1990) Fishes of the great barrier reef and coral sea. Crawford House Press, Bathurst

    Google Scholar 

  • Shohet AJ, Watt PJ (2004) Female association preferences based on olfactory cues in the guppy, Poecilia reticulata. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 55:363–369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sih A (1980) Optimal behavior: can foragers balance two conflicting demands? Science 210:1041–1043

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RJF (1989) The response of Asterropteryx semipunctatus and Gnatholepis anjerensis (Pisces: Gobiidae) to chemical stimuli from injured conspecifics, an alarm response in gobies. Ethology 81:279–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RJF (1997) Avoiding and deterring predators. In: Godin JJ (ed) Behavioural ecology of teleost fishes. Oxford University Press, New York, pp 163–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith ME (2000) Alarm response of Arius felis to chemical stimuli from injured conspecifics. J Chem Ecol 26:1635–1647

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RJF, Smith MJ (1989) Predator recognition behaviour in two species of gobiid fishes, Asterropteryx semipunctatus and Gnatholepis anjerensis. Ethology 83:19–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RJF, Lawrence BJ (1992) The response of a bumblebee goby, Brachygobius sabanus, to chemical stimuli from injured conspecifics. Environ Biol Fish 34:103–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith ME, Belk MC (2001) Risk assessment in western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis): do multiple cues have additive effects? Behav Ecol Sociobiol 51:101–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith RJF, Lawrence BJ, Smith MJ (1991) Cross-reaction to skin extract between two gobies, Asterropteryx semipunctatus and Brachygobius sabanus. J Chem Ecol 17:2253–2259

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Stauffer HP, Semlitsch RD (1993) Effects of visual, chemical and tactile cues of fish on the behavioural responses of tadpoles. Anim Behav 46:255–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweatman HPA (1984) A field study of the predatory behaviour and feeding rate of a piscivorous coral reef fish, the lizardfish Synodus englemani. Copeia 1984:187–194

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tremaine RJ, Pollock MS, Friesen RG, Kusch RC, Chivers DP (2006) The response of prey fishes to chemical alarm cues: what recent field experiments reveal about the old testing paradigm. In: Mason RT, LeMaster MP, Müller-Schwarze D (eds) Chemical signals in vertebrates, vol 10. Plenum Press, New York, pp 328–333

    Google Scholar 

  • Turner AM, Montgomery SL (2003) Spatial and temporal scales of predator avoidance: experiments with fish and snails. Ecology 84:616–622

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wisenden BD (2000) Olfactory assessment of predation risk in the aquatic environment. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B 355:1205–1208

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wisenden BD, Chivers DP, Brown GE, Smith RJF (1995) The role of experience in risk assessment: avoidance of areas chemically labelled with fathead minnow alarm pheromone by conspecifics and heterospecifics. Ecoscience 2:116–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhao X, Chivers DP (2005) Response of juvenile goldfish (Carassius auratus) to chemical alarm cues: relationship between response intensity, response duration and the level of predation risk. In: Mason RT, LeMaster M, Müller-Schwarze D (eds) Chemical signals in vertebrates, vol 10. Plenum Press, New York, pp 334–341

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Zhao X, Ferrar MCO, Chivers DP (2006) Threat-sensitive learning of predator odours by a prey fish. Behaviour 143:1103–1121

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank K. Clifton for his help in the field, J. Larson for assistance in the laboratory and three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. This study was funded through the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. This study conformed to the ethics approval guidelines of JCU and operated under approval A1067.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    M. I. McCormick & R. Manassa

Authors
  1. M. I. McCormick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. R. Manassa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. I. McCormick.

Additional information

Communicated by Biology Editor M.P. Lesser.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

McCormick, M.I., Manassa, R. Predation risk assessment by olfactory and visual cues in a coral reef fish. Coral Reefs 27, 105–113 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-007-0296-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-007-0296-9

Keywords

  • Behaviour
  • Chemical alarm cue
  • Coral reef fish
  • Olfaction
  • Predation risk
  • Visual cue

Search

Navigation