Meeting Abstract

1.2  Sunday, Jan. 4  dietary cue allow embryonic threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) to learn potential predators. GOLUB, J.L.*; FOSTER, S.A.; Clark University; Clark University jgolub@clarku.edu

A variety of chemical cues exist in the environment at any give time, and an ability to use these cues to assess predation risk can greatly enhance survival. Aquatic predators produce dietary olfactory cues, which inform potential prey of their predators diet. These therefore can be learned as a predator avoidance cue. Species that have undergone rapid proliferation into new environments are exposed to novel predator regimes, and should therefore rely on learned recognition of predatory dietary cues rather than innate recognition. This logic should also extend to embryonic individuals. Being sedentary, embryos are at high risk of predation, and many of their predators continue to threaten them once they hatch. Thus, embryonic individuals in widespread species should also rely on learning to avoid predation, increasing their post-hatching survival. Threespine stickleback, a species that has rapidly radiated into novel environments, has consequently been exposed to a variety of novel predator regimes. Their embryos are exposed to the dietary cues of a wide variety of predators and might benefit greatly from learned recognition of those cues. Embryonic stickleback from a variety of marine and freshwater populations were exposed to dietary cues of novel (goldfish, Carassius auratus) and native (prickly sculpin, Cottus asper) predators to determine if they can learn these predator cues, and respond with enhanced antipredator behavior after hatching. Fry showed a stronger response to both natural and novel predators if, as embryos, they had been exposed to the cues of predators fed an embryo diet. Controls showed no change in response. Thus, stickleback embryos are able to learn to recognize natural and novel predators and respond accordingly after hatching.