Meeting Abstract
24.6 Jan. 5 Olfactory imprinting in coral reef fish MILLER-SIMS, V*; ATEMA , J; GERLACH, G; KINGSFORD, MJ; Boston University Marine Program; Boston University Marine Program; Marine Biological Laboratories; James Cook University vms@bu.edu
Most marine organisms have a pelagic larval dispersal phase, leading to the question of how far larvae disperse. Larval behavior and odor preferences may play an important role in larval dispersal and settlement. Apogonid larvae prefer the odor of the reef on which they were caught over other reefs and ocean water. It is possible that this response is due to acclimatization to the odor of water the fish have been recently swimming instead of a long term preference. We tested apogonid larvae settling on One Tree Island by catching them as they came onto the reef and testing their preference for water for One Tree vs. water from Heron Island in a flume preference test. We then held the fish in either One Tree or Heron water and tested them over a period of nine days. The preference for One Tree water declined in both groups over time; there was no significant difference between the animals held in One Tree or Heron water and both groups maintained a preference for One Tree throughout the testing period. Odor preferences remain stable over time despite exposure to other odors and it is possible they are the result of olfactory imprinting to the home reef odor. Olfactory imprinting has been shown in anemonefishes, but the sensitive period is unknown. Breeding pairs of Amphiprion melanopus were held either with or without an anemone. Eggs and larvae were exposed the anemone from egg laying through hatching (1), from egg laying to just prior to hatching (2), just previous to and 1 hour after hatching (3) or had no anemone exposure (4). At 15 days those larvae in groups 2 and 4 had no preference for the anemone while those in groups 1 and anemone showed a strong significant preference for anemone odor. In this species of reef fish larvae must be exposed to the imprinting odor after hatching in order to learn it.
