Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.

Fishes are known to use chemical alarm cues from both conspecifics and heterospecifics to assess local predation risks and enhance predator detection. Yet it is unknown how recognition of heterospecific cues arises for coral reef fishes. Here, we test if naïve juvenile fish have an innate recognitio...

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Main Authors: Matthew D Mitchell, Peter F Cowman, Mark I McCormick
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2012-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3475700?pdf=render
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author Matthew D Mitchell
Peter F Cowman
Mark I McCormick
author_facet Matthew D Mitchell
Peter F Cowman
Mark I McCormick
author_sort Matthew D Mitchell
collection DOAJ
description Fishes are known to use chemical alarm cues from both conspecifics and heterospecifics to assess local predation risks and enhance predator detection. Yet it is unknown how recognition of heterospecific cues arises for coral reef fishes. Here, we test if naïve juvenile fish have an innate recognition of heterospecific alarm cues. We also examine if there is a relationship between the intensity of the antipredator response to these cues and the degree to which species are related to each other. Naïve juvenile anemone fish, Amphiprion percula, were tested to see if they displayed antipredator responses to chemical alarm cues from four closely related heterospecific species (family Pomacentridae), a distantly related sympatric species (Asterropteryx semipunctatus) and a saltwater (control). Juveniles displayed significant reductions in foraging rate when exposed to all four confamilial heterospecific species but they did not respond to the distantly related sympatric species or the saltwater control. There was also a strong relationship between the intensity of the antipredator response and the extent to which species were related, with responses weakening as species became more distantly related. These findings demonstrate that chemical alarm cues are conserved within the pomacentrid family, providing juveniles with an innate recognition of heterospecific alarm cues as predicted by the phylogenetic relatedness hypothesis.
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spelling doaj.art-e29968e1d2f541d39b208423e6d2d7f52022-12-21T22:37:01ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032012-01-01710e4742810.1371/journal.pone.0047428Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.Matthew D MitchellPeter F CowmanMark I McCormickFishes are known to use chemical alarm cues from both conspecifics and heterospecifics to assess local predation risks and enhance predator detection. Yet it is unknown how recognition of heterospecific cues arises for coral reef fishes. Here, we test if naïve juvenile fish have an innate recognition of heterospecific alarm cues. We also examine if there is a relationship between the intensity of the antipredator response to these cues and the degree to which species are related to each other. Naïve juvenile anemone fish, Amphiprion percula, were tested to see if they displayed antipredator responses to chemical alarm cues from four closely related heterospecific species (family Pomacentridae), a distantly related sympatric species (Asterropteryx semipunctatus) and a saltwater (control). Juveniles displayed significant reductions in foraging rate when exposed to all four confamilial heterospecific species but they did not respond to the distantly related sympatric species or the saltwater control. There was also a strong relationship between the intensity of the antipredator response and the extent to which species were related, with responses weakening as species became more distantly related. These findings demonstrate that chemical alarm cues are conserved within the pomacentrid family, providing juveniles with an innate recognition of heterospecific alarm cues as predicted by the phylogenetic relatedness hypothesis.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3475700?pdf=render
spellingShingle Matthew D Mitchell
Peter F Cowman
Mark I McCormick
Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.
PLoS ONE
title Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.
title_full Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.
title_fullStr Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.
title_full_unstemmed Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.
title_short Chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family Pomacentridae.
title_sort chemical alarm cues are conserved within the coral reef fish family pomacentridae
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3475700?pdf=render
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