Meeting Abstract
60.1 Saturday, Jan. 5 Blind bass suck: Effects of sensory deprivation on feeding kinematics in Micropterus salmoides GARDINER, J.M.*; MOTTA, P.J.; University of South Florida; University of South Florida jmgardin@mail.usf.edu
Animals use a suite of sensory modalities to precisely locate and capture prey. While numerous studies have examined the effects of sensory lesions on prey capture success, this study is the first to examine the contribution of sensory information to prey capture kinematics in fish. Largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, were filmed using high-speed videography at 500 frames s-1 while capturing mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki. Videos were analyzed using MaxTraq software to examine the timing of jaw movements, along with the swimming velocity of the bass, distance from the prey at initiation of the feeding excursion, and the relative movements of predator and prey during capture. Bass were examined intact, with visual deprivation under infrared (IR) light, and with lateral line deprivation (LLX) following treatment with cobalt chloride. Kinematics of prey capture under IR were dramatically impacted, more so than with lateral line deprivation, suggesting vision is the more important of the two sensory modalities for this species. Under normal light (control and LLX), bass orient to the prey from a distance, then immediately strike at high velocity. Under IR, bass slowly approach the prey then strike from a much closer distance. Maximum gape distance, duration of maximum gape, and time to jaw closure were unaffected by the treatment condition, however the time to maximum gape decreased after lateral line lesion and more so under IR, indicating that the lesioned bass are generating higher suction fluid velocities. In addition, the relative movements of predator and prey during capture indicate that bass switch from predominantly ram-based feeding when intact towards more suction-based feeding when information from the lateral line is lacking and even more so when visual information is lacking.
