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The effects of habitat‐ and diet‐based cues on association preferences in the three‐spined stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus )
Author(s) -
Ward A. J. W.,
Krause J.,
Hart P. J. B.
Publication year - 2003
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.1095-8649.2003.216ao.x
Subject(s) - gasterosteus , stickleback , biology , three spined stickleback , association (psychology) , referent , daphnia , sensory cue , ecology , zoology , stimulus (psychology) , fish <actinopterygii> , habitat , zooplankton , cognitive psychology , fishery , psychology , neuroscience , psychotherapist , linguistics , philosophy
A number of recent papers have investigated the potential of familiarity to organize the distributions of free‐ranging animals. It is not clear, however, to which extent individual recognition or a more general recognition of a group odour is responsible for familiarity preferences. First, we tested the sensory basis of the recognition of familiars in three‐spined stickleback ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ). When allowed to choose between a familiar and an unfamiliar stimulus shoal on the basis of both visual and chemical communication, visual communication only and chemical communication only, the preference of focal fish for familiars was shown to be dependent on the presence of chemical cues. We subsequently investigated the mechanisms underlying such association preferences, specifically the effects of recent habitat and diet on preferences. Experimental fish were divided into four treatment groups consisting of two environment treatments (saline and freshwater) and two diet treatments ( Daphnia spp. and chironimid larvae). Focal fish subsequently showed significant association preferences for groups of unfamiliar fish that had undergone the same environment or diet treatment as themselves, suggesting self‐referent matching. These data indicate that individual recognition is not a pre‐requisite for the expression of familiarity preferences.