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Olfactory sensitivity of the herbivorous grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella , to amino acids
Author(s) -
Johnsen P. B.,
Zhou H.,
Adams M. A.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of fish biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.672
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1095-8649
pISSN - 0022-1112
DOI - 10.1111/j.1095-8649.1988.tb05454.x
Subject(s) - grass carp , biology , amino acid , zoology , fish <actinopterygii> , biochemistry , fishery
The olfactory sensitivity of a herbivore, the grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella , to ten amino acids was investigated using electrophysiological recording techniques. Underwater electroolfactogram recordings increased exponentially with logarithmic increases of stimulus concentration from threshold to 1 × 10 −3 m. Calculated detection thresholds ranged from 1 × 10 −7.15 m to 1 × 10 −8.7 M and are similar to those previously reported for carnivorous fish species. The relative stimulatory efficacy (RSE) of the ten amino acids determined at 1 × 10 −4 M revealed five groups of stimuli, with cysteine the most stimulatory and proline the least. Measures of amino acid RSE did not differ significantly from those of previously studied carnivores, except for arginine. Grass carp showed strong responses to this compound, whereas it has produced only limited responses in carnivores. Differences in the responsiveness of herbivores and carnivores were not observed, suggesting that feeding niche segregation is probably not facilitated by differential olfactory sensitivities to feeding stimuli.