Journal
ZOOLOGY
Volume 120, Issue -, Pages 42-52Publisher
ELSEVIER GMBH
DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2016.08.005
Keywords
Electroreception; Feeding behavior; Lateral line; Olfaction; Vision
Categories
Funding
- Lerner-Gray Grant for Marine Research
- American Elasmobranch Society Donald R. Nelson Behavior Research Award
- American Society for Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Raney Fund
- National Science Foundation [IOS-0843440, IOS-0841478, IOS-081502]
- Porter Family Foundation
- University of South Florida Presidential Doctoral Fellowship
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The ability of predators to modulate prey capture in response to the size, location, and behavior of prey is critical to successful feeding on a variety of prey types. Modulating in response to changes in sensory information may be critical to successful foraging in a variety of environments. Three shark species with different feeding morphologies and behaviors were filmed using high-speed videography while capturing live prey: the ram-feeding blacktip shark, the ram-biting bonnethead, and the suction-feeding nurse shark. Sharks were examined intact and after sensory information was blocked (olfaction, vision, mechanoreception, and electroreception, alone and in combination), to elucidate the contribution of the senses to the kinematics of prey capture. In response to sensory deprivation, the blacktip shark demonstrated the greatest amount of modulation, followed by the nurse shark. In the absence of olfaction, blacktip sharks open the jaws slowly,.suggestive of less motivation. Without lateral line cues, blacktip sharks capture prey from greater horizontal angles using increased ram. When visual cues are absent, blacktip sharks elevate the head earlier and to a greater degree, allowing them to overcome imprecise position of the prey relative to the mouth, and capture prey using decreased ram, while suction remains unchanged. When visual cues are absent, nurse sharks open the mouth wider, extend the labial cartilages further, and increase suction while simultaneously decreasing ram. Unlike some bony fish, neither species switches feeding modalities (i.e. from ram to suction or vice versa). Bonnetheads failed to open the mouth when electrosensory cues were blocked, but otherwise little to no modulation was found in this species. These results suggest that prey capture may be less plastic in elasmobranchs than in bony fishes, possibly due to anatomical differences, and that the ability to modulate feeding kinematics in response to available sensory information varies by species, rather than by feeding modality. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.
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