Social familiarity improves fast-start escape performance in schooling fish.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Nadler LE
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8292327 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Theoretical physics predicts optimal information processing in living systems near transitions (or pseudo-critical points) in their collective dynamics. However, focusing on potential benefits of proximity to a critical point, such as maximal sensitivity to perturbations and fast dissemination of information, commonly disregards possible costs of criticality in the noisy, dynamic environmental contexts of biological systems. Here, we find that startle cascades in fish schools are subcritical (not maximally responsive to environmental cues) and that distance to criticality decreases when perceived risk increases. Considering individuals' costs related to two detection error types, associated to both true and false alarms, we argue that being subcritical, and modulating distance to criticality, can be understood as managing a trade-off between sensitivity and robustness according to the riskiness and noisiness of the environment. Our work emphasizes the need for an individual-based and context-dependent perspective on criticality and collective information processing and motivates future questions about the evolutionary forces that brought about a particular trade-off.
| S-EPMC9217090 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Superfetation, the ability to simultaneously carry multiple litters of different developmental stages in utero, is a reproductive strategy that evolved repeatedly in viviparous animal lineages. The evolution of superfetation is hypothesized to reduce the reproductive burden and, consequently, improve the locomotor performance of the female during pregnancy. Here, we apply new computer-vision-based techniques to study changes in body shape and three-dimensional fast-start escape performance during pregnancy in three live-bearing fishes (family Poeciliidae) that exhibit different levels of superfetation. We found that superfetation correlates with a reduced abdominal distension and a more slender female body shape just before parturition. We further found that body slenderness positively correlates with maximal speeds, curvature amplitude and curvature rate, implying that superfetation improves the fast-start escape performance. Collectively, our study suggests that superfetation may have evolved in performance-demanding (e.g. high flow or high predation) environments to reduce the locomotor cost of pregnancy.
| S-EPMC6939275 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Vessel noise represents a relatively recent but rapidly increasing form of pollution, which affects the many organisms that use sound to inform their behavioural decisions. Recent research shows that anthropogenic noise can lead to reduced responsiveness to risk and higher mortality. The current laboratory experiment determined whether the playback of noise from motorboats powered by two- or four-stroke outboard engines affected the kinematics of the fast-start response in a juvenile coral reef fish, and the time scale over which the effects may occur. Results show that the two engine types produce slightly different sound spectra, which influence fish differently. Playback of 2-stroke engines had the greatest effect on activity, but only for a brief period (45 s). While noise from 4-stroke outboard engines affected fast-start kinematics, they had half the impact of noise from 2-stroke engines. Two-stroke engine noise affected routine swimming more than 4-stroke engines, while 4-stroke noise had a greater effect on the speed at which fish responded to a startle. Evidence suggests that the source of the noise pollution will have a major influence on the way marine organisms will respond, and this gives managers an important tool whereby they may reduce the effects of noise pollution on protected communities.
| S-EPMC6484016 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Animals are exposed to variable and rapidly changing environmental flow conditions, such as wind in terrestrial habitats and currents in aquatic systems. For fishes, previous work suggests that individuals exhibit flow-induced changes in aerobic swimming performance. Yet, no one has examined whether similar plasticity is found in fast-start escape responses, which are modulated by anaerobic swimming performance, sensory stimuli and neural control. In this study, we used fish from wild schools of the tropical damselfish Chromis viridis from shallow reefs surrounding Lizard Island in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The flow regime at each site was measured to ascertain differences in mean water flow speed and its temporal variability. Swimming and escape behaviour in fish schools were video-recorded in a laminar-flow swim tunnel. Though each school's swimming behaviour (i.e. alignment and cohesion) was not associated with local flow conditions, traits linked with fast-start performance (particularly turning rate and the distance travelled with the response) were significantly greater in individuals from high-flow habitats. This stronger performance may occur due to a number of mechanisms, such as an in situ training effect or greater selection pressure for faster performance phenotypes in areas with high flow speed.This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.
| S-EPMC6215405 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The costs and benefits of group living often depend on the spatial position of individuals within groups and the ability of individuals to occupy preferred positions. For example, models of predation events for moving prey groups predict higher mortality risk for individuals at the periphery and front of groups. We investigated these predictions in sardine (Sardinella aurita) schools under attack from group hunting sailfish (Istiophorus platypterus) in the open ocean. Sailfish approached sardine schools about equally often from the front and rear, but prior to attack there was a chasing period in which sardines attempted to swim away from the predator. Consequently, all sailfish attacks were directed at the rear and peripheral positions of the school, resulting in higher predation risk for individuals at these positions. During attacks, sailfish slash at sardines with their bill causing prey injury including scale removal and tissue damage. Sardines injured in previous attacks were more often found in the rear half of the school than in the front half. Moreover, injured fish had lower tail-beat frequencies and lagged behind uninjured fish. Injuries inflicted by sailfish bills may, therefore, hinder prey swimming speed and drive spatial sorting in prey schools through passive self-assortment. We found only partial support for the theoretical predictions from current predator-prey models, highlighting the importance of incorporating more realistic predator-prey dynamics into these models.This article is part of the themed issue 'Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.
| S-EPMC5498294 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Virtual reality (VR) is a potentially challenging social environment for effective communication and collaboration. Thus, we conducted a VR study to determine whether increased familiarity with a teammate would improve performance on a joint decision making task. Specifically, because attitude familiarity, or knowledge of another person's attitudes, has been correlated with better relationship functioning in the past, we anticipated that team performance would improve when teammates were first asked to discuss their task-relevant attitudes with one another. We also hypothesized that increased familiarity would be particularly useful in immersive VR, where typical social and other nonverbal cues were lacking. Twenty pairs recruited from a workplace environment were randomly assigned to either the Familiar or Control condition before completing a joint decision making task both in VR and on desktop monitors. The manipulation of attitude familiarity was successful: pairs in the Familiar condition were significantly more aware of their partners' unique task-relevant attitudes. Results found that in VR, Familiar pairs were more accurate at determining patterns to events. Additionally, for teams less experienced in VR, Familiar pairs were also more accurate at predicting future events. However, there was no meaningful statistical difference in pairs' ability to identify information. Familiar teams also took more time to answer questions, and we found no difference in self-reported communication quality. Overall, this was the first successful manipulation of attitude familiarity and results indicate that such an intervention may prove useful in a collaborative work environment, as Familiar teams demonstrated greater accuracy, especially in VR.
| S-EPMC7588115 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Krill are shrimp-like crustaceans with a high degree of mobility and variety of documented swimming behaviors. The caridoid escape response, a fast-start mechanism unique to crustaceans, occurs when the animal performs a series of rapid abdominal flexions and tail flipping that results in powerful backward strokes. The current results quantify the animal kinematics and three-dimensional flow field around a free-swimming Euphausia superba as it performs the caridoid escape maneuver. The specimen performs a single abdominal flexion-tail flip combination that leads to an acceleration over a 42 ms interval allowing it to reach a maximum speed of 57.0 cm/s (17.3 body lengths/s). The krill's tail flipping during the abdominal closure is a significant contributor to the thrust generation during the maneuver. The krill sheds a complex chain of vortex rings in its wake due to the viscous flow effects while the organism accelerates. The vortex ring structure reveals a strong suction flow in the wake, which suggests that the pressure distribution and form drag play a role in the force balance for this maneuver. Antarctic krill typically swim in a low to intermediate Reynolds number (Re) regime where viscous forces are significant, but as shown by this analysis, its high maneuverability allows it to quickly change its body angle and swimming speed.
| S-EPMC10068603 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Schooling fish heavily rely on visual cues to interact with neighbors and avoid obstacles. The availability of sensory information is influenced by environmental conditions and changes in the physical environment that can alter the sensory environment of the fish, which in turn affects individual and group movements. In this study, we combine experiments and data-driven modeling to investigate the impact of varying levels of light intensity on social interactions and collective behavior in rummy-nose tetra fish. The trajectories of single fish and groups of fish swimming in a tank under different lighting conditions were analyzed to quantify their movements and spatial distribution. Interaction functions between two individuals and the fish interaction with the tank wall were reconstructed and modeled for each light condition. Our results demonstrate that light intensity strongly modulates social interactions between fish and their reactions to obstacles, which then impact collective motion patterns that emerge at the group level.
| S-EPMC10691717 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Fish larvae may intercept their own wake during sharp turns, which might affect their escape performance. We analysed C-starts of larval zebrafish (Danio rerio, Hamilton, 1822) using a computational fluid dynamics approach that simulates free swimming (swimming trajectory is determined by fluid forces) by coupling hydrodynamics and body dynamics. The simulations show that fish may intercept their own wake when they turn by 100-180°. During stage 1 of a C-start, the fish generates a strong jet at the tail that is shed into the wake. During stage 2, the fish intercepts this wake. Counterfactual simulations showed that wake interception increased the lateral force on the fish and reduced the fish's turning angle by more than 5°. Wake interception caused no significant acceleration tangential to the trajectory of the fish and did not affect total power output. While experimental and simulation evidence suggests that fish larvae can either undershoot or intercept but not overshoot their wake, our simulations show that larger fish might be able to avoid intercepting their wake by either under- or overshooting. As intercepting its own wake modifies the fish's escape trajectory, fish should account for this effect when planning their escape route.
| S-EPMC4223905 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Teleost and amphibian prey undertake fast-start escape responses during a predatory attack in an attempt to avoid being captured. Although previously viewed as a reflex reaction controlled by the autonomic nervous system, the escape responses of individuals when repeatedly startled are highly variable in their characteristics, suggesting some behavioural mediation of the response. Previous studies have shown that fishes are able to learn from past experiences, but few studies have assessed how past experience with predators affect the fast-start response. Here we determined whether prior experience with the smell or sight of a predator (the Dottyback, Pseudochromis fuscus) affected the escape response of juveniles of the Spiny Chromis (Acanthochromis polyacanthus). Results show that individuals exposed to any of the predator cues prior to being startled exhibited a stronger escape response (i.e., reduced latency, increased escape distance, mean response speed, maximum response speed and maximum acceleration) when compared with controls. This study demonstrates the plasticity of escape responses and highlights the potential for naïve reef fish to take into account both visual and olfactory threat cues simultaneously to optimise the amplitude of their kinematic responses to perceived risk.
| S-EPMC4526227 | biostudies-literature