Term of Award
Spring 2010
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biology (M.S.)
Document Type and Release Option
Thesis (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Biology
Committee Chair
Stephen P. Vives
Committee Member 1
Edward B. Mondor
Committee Member 2
Daniel F. Gleason
Abstract
Olfaction in fishes can be an important mechanism in determining the level of predation risk. Many fishes possess alarm signaling systems, wherein an individual can detect injured conspecifics via olfaction and respond behaviorally to the presence of a predator. The superorder Ostariophysi exhibits a fright reaction to injured conspecifics, characterized by specialized cells and alarm substances. I tested if a live-bearing non-ostariophysan, Gambusia holbrooki, exhibited a similar behavioral response to its injured conspecifics. I also examined the effects of exposure to this and other predatory cues during a single pregnancy cycle. I hypothesized that immediate exposure to the cues would provoke a clear behavioral reaction, and long-term exposure would cause G. holbrooki to alter nutrient provisioning to developing embryos, resulting in altered offspring morphology and performance. Gambusia holbrooki exposed to skin extract (an alarm substance from injured conspecifics) schooled significantly closer than fish not exposed to skin extract. Mosquitofish did not display any discernible life-history plasticity in response to predatory cues during a single pregnancy. They did, however, exhibit marked differences in fecundity-mother size relationships between two locations in coastal Georgia. These results confirm the existence of a behavioral alarm reaction in G. holbrooki, and different reproductive traits between locations. Many animals experience morphological and life-history plasticity in response to shifts in abiotic and biotic environmental factors. Additional replication is necessary to determine if this species alters nutrient provisioning to embryos in response to predation risk.
Recommended Citation
Vanzwoll, Carolyn, "Behavioral and Reproductive Plasticity in Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia Holbrooki) in Response to Predatory Cues" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 741.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/741
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
