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Sit and survive: predation avoidance by cryptobenthic coral reef fishes

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Abstract

Predation is a crucial ecosystem function, transferring nutrients and shaping the abundance and diversity of animals within communities. On coral reefs, fish-fish predation (i.e., piscivory) is arguably one of the best known ecosystem functions, yet is also one of the least well quantified. Recent work has suggested that the prey capture performance of piscivorous fishes may differ when feeding on actively swimming vs. cryptobenthic fish prey. However, the extent of this difference remains unquantified. Our goal, therefore, was to conduct performance-based experiments comparing piscivorous fishes feeding on two different fish prey types, namely, actively swimming vs. cryptobenthic prey (i.e., prey sitting on the benthos). While predators were able to immediately detect actively swimming prey, when feeding on cryptobenthic prey, predators were generally unable to detect the prey until it moved. Both focal predators, the grabber Pseudochromis fuscus and the engulfer Pterois volitans were less successful at capturing cryptobenthic prey (mean 28% probability of capture), compared to actively swimming prey (85%). Overall, our study demonstrates the heterogeneous nature of fish predation on coral reefs, and the challenges of feeding on different prey functional groups.

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Acknowledgements

We thank S. Brandl, C. Hemingson, V. Huertas, R. Morais, A. Siqueira, R. Streit, and S. Tebbett for insightful discussions; E. Fakan, J. Donnelson, R. Spinks, and M. Jarrold for providing prey fishes. We also thank two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments. Supported by the Australian Research Council (FL190100062 and CE140100020).

Funding

Supported by the Australian Research Council (FL190100062 and CE140100020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Hub for Coral Reef Ecosystem Functions, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld, Australia

    Michalis Mihalitsis & David R. Bellwood

  2. College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Michalis Mihalitsis & David R. Bellwood

  3. Australian Research Council, Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, 4811, Australia

    Michalis Mihalitsis & David R. Bellwood

  4. Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Michalis Mihalitsis & Peter C. Wainwright

Authors
  1. Michalis Mihalitsis
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  2. David R. Bellwood
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  3. Peter C. Wainwright
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Contributions

MM and DRB conceived and designed the study, MM collected and analysed the data, MM, DRB, and PCW wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Michalis Mihalitsis.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Housing and experimental protocols were in accordance with the James Cook University Animal Ethics Committee (A2523).

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Responsible Editor: K.D. Clements.

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Mihalitsis, M., Bellwood, D.R. & Wainwright, P.C. Sit and survive: predation avoidance by cryptobenthic coral reef fishes. Mar Biol 171, 7 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-023-04330-0

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