Lecture 17 - Behavioural Ecology of Fish Flashcards

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1
Q

What percentage of reef fish are herbivores?

A

25%

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2
Q

What percentage of primary production of algae on the reef is removed by herbivores?

A

50%

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3
Q

Why are parrotfish important species in coral reef communities?

A

Partake in the bioerosion process.

Grind down calcium carbonate skeleton, which falls among the reef and fuses together, leading to reef growth.

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4
Q

Give a territorial herbivore.

A

Farming damselfish.
Selectively weed out unpalatable algae and maintain a highly productive farm within their hiding hole which they feed on.

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5
Q

What is the role of planktivores in coral reefs?

A

Form coupling of offshore plankton communities and coral reef communities, bringing nutrients onto the reef.

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6
Q

Give an example of a nocturnal planktivore.

A

Squirrelfish.
Take advantage of the diurnal-migrating plankton.
Spread out as a group for hunting, and vocalise as they find a plankton school.

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7
Q

Are the majority of fish on reefs predators or prey?

A

Predators.

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8
Q

Give two examples of predators on coral reefs.

A
  • Great barracuda; has big teeth.

- Red hind; has large extendable mouth that creates a vacuum and sucks prey in.

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9
Q

When do prey have a competitive advantage?

A

When light levels are high.

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10
Q

Give an example of a species with a sit-and-wait strategy.

A

Spoon-nosed eel.

Highly camouflaged against its surroundings, lives in burrow, and emerges rapidly and grabs prey species.

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11
Q

Give an example of a species that hunts through pack hunting.

A

Comb grouper.

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12
Q

What is the benefit of shadow feeding?

A

By hunting together, provide competitive advantage over prey from a confusion effect.

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13
Q

Give an example of two species that hunt through shadow feeding.

A

Bar jack and southern stingray.

Have different feeding strategies, but prey makes more mistakes than if only faced by one of them.

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14
Q

What is nuclear hunting?

A

Two or more species hunting together.

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15
Q

Give an example of nuclear hunting.

A

Moray eels and Coney.

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16
Q

Describe the work of Alex Veil.

A

Described complex behaviour interaction between Coney and moray eel.
Coney vocalises to moray, inviting to hunt.
Coney chases fish towards hole, performs a dance to indicate location of prey.

17
Q

Give a defence mechanism of angelfish.

A

Have high bodies, as most predators are gape-limited.

18
Q

Give a defence mechanism of triggerfish.

A

Can make their bodies temporarily taller using spines, increasing body height, preventing being eaten by gape-limited predators.

19
Q

What are chromatophores?

A

Temporarily ink-filled cells, through hormones flood ink to the surface of the cell, allowing fish to change colour quickly.

20
Q

Give an adaptation of parrotfish.

A

Has ‘sleeping colours’, uses chromatophores for hiding in low light levels.
Secretes a bubble of mucus that encases the whole fish, preventing it from releasing olfactory cues about its location for predators.

21
Q

Give an example of permanent advertising on the reef.

A

Queen angelfish, swim high above the reef using bright colours to signal to one another the edges of their territory.

22
Q

Give an example of temporary advertising on the reef.

A

Bluelip parrotfish.
Males change colour, demonstrating their health.
A measure of quality, attracting females.

23
Q

Give an example of a symbiotic relationship,

A

Orange spotted goby and snapping shrimp.
Shrimp has poor eyesight, good at digging burrows.
Goby good eyesight, nowhere to live.

24
Q

Give an example of commensalism.

A

Juvenile bar jacks developed tolerance to the stinging cells of jellyfish, live in their tentacles.

Pearlfish vocalises, convincing sea cucumber to open its anus. Lives within the anus of the sea cucumber.

25
Q

What is commensalism?

A

Where one species gains an advantage from a mutualistic relationship, but the other species does not gain an advantage or a disadvantage.

26
Q

Give an example of mimicry.

A

Wrasse blenny imitates initial phase of blue-headed wrasse, gaining protection from predators by imitating a non-preferred prey species.

27
Q

Give an example of aggressive mimicry.

A

Juvenile tiger grouper has colouration of initial phase blue-headed wrasse, uses this to get near prey.

28
Q

What is reciprocal mimicry?

A

Both species benefit from looking like the other.

29
Q

Give an example of reciprocal mimicry.

A

Goatfish and yellowtail snapper swim in two-species schools; goatfish have barbels that allow them to smell hidden prey, yellowtail snappers faster at catching prey.

30
Q

Give an example of cleaning symbiosis.

A
  • Gobies swim into the mouth of Nassau groupers and clean parasites off the gills.
  • Shrimp pick off scales and decaying skin.
31
Q

Describe the intelligence of a cleaning organism, a ‘cleaner’.

A
  • Can recognise 1000 individual clients
  • Keeps a record of how they cleaned client last time
  • Adapt cleaning routine to client, depending on whether they cheated the client the previous time.
32
Q

Why is the bluehead wrasse not predated upon?

A

Because it performs 20% of the cleaning of fish on Caribbean reefs.

33
Q

Describe the use of harems in a broadcast spawner.

A

Bluehead wrasse.
Terminal phase male controls a harem of females, defends territory for.
20-50x more successful than ‘sneakers’ - male fish living among females.

34
Q

How much easier was it to catch European eels when played shipment noise?

A

Took half as long to catch eels.

35
Q

How did European eel respond to ambush predatory threat under shipment noise?

A

Majority of fish did not startle.

Took greater time for those that did to startle.

36
Q

Describe some physiological changes in European eels experiencing shipment noise.

A
  • Increase in operculum beat rate with ship noise, indiciating increased ventilation rates, therefore increased stress.
  • Use more oxygen in the water, indicates increased metabolic rate.
  • Loss of lateralisation, lose preference for exploring novel habitats. Indicates change in cognitive ability.