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Fig. 2 in The almost invisible league: crypsis and association between minute fishes and shrimps as a possible defence against visually hunting predators

Fig. 2. Three members of the almost invisible league: Priocharax ariel (top centre), Palaemonetes carteri (bottom left), Microphilypnus amazonicus (bottom right) in aquarium under artificial light. Same specimens as in Fig. 1 except for M. amazonicus (17.8 mm SL, INPA 25244).

Fig. 5. A in The almost invisible league: crypsis and association between minute fishes and shrimps as a possible defence against visually hunting predators

Fig. 5. A juvenile Centropomus mexicanus (12.9 mm SL, ZUEC 6171) gorged with eleotrid fish prey, photographed in field aquarium under artificial light.

Fig. 1 in The almost invisible league: crypsis and association between minute fishes and shrimps as a possible defence against visually hunting predators

Fig. 1. The studied igapó habitat in Amazonia (top left) with leaf-litter debris on the bottom; the eleotrid fish Microphilypnus amazonicus camouflaged on a decomposing leaf (17.5 mm SL, INPA 25244, top right), the characid fish Priocharax ariel hovering in the water column close to a dead leaf (14.3 mm SL, INPA 25243, bottom left), and the palaemonid shrimp Palaemonetes carteri crawling on a dead leaf (23. 7 mm TL, INPA 1432, bottom right). The cryptic effect of each species' colour pattern is lessened under artificial light (photographed in aquarium).

Fig. 4. A in The almost invisible league: crypsis and association between minute fishes and shrimps as a possible defence against visually hunting predators

Fig. 4. A larval Eleotris pisonis (8.8 mm SL, ZUEC 6169, left) and a juvenile Eucinostomus melanopterus (11.3 mm SL, ZUEC 5378, right) photographed in field aquarium under artificial light.

opencc-zeroAug 2023View details →

dryad40/100

Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground-nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators

The nests of ground-nesting birds rely heavily on camouflage for their survival, and predation risk, often linked to ecological changes from human activity, is a major source of mortality. Numerous ground-nesting bird populations are in decline, so understanding the effects of camouflage on their nesting behaviour is of relevance to their conservation concern. Habitat three-dimensional (3D) geometry together with predator visual abilities, viewing distance, and viewing angle determine whether a nest is either visible, occluded or too far away to detect. While this link is intuitive, few studies have investigated how fine-scale geometry is likely to help defend nests from different predator guilds. We quantified nest visibility based on 3D occlusion, camouflage, and predator visual modelling in northern lapwing, Vanellus vanellus, on different land management regimes. Lapwings selected local backgrounds that had a higher 3D complexity at a spatial scale greater than their entire clutches compared to local control sites. Importantly, our findings show that habitat geometry – rather than predator visual acuity – restricts nest visibility to terrestrial predators, and that their field habitats perceived by humans as open are functionally closed with respect to a terrestrial predator searching for nests on the ground. Taken together with lapwings' careful nest site selection, our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat geometry for understanding the evolutionary ecology and management of conservation sites for ground-nesting birds.

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Habitat geometry rather than visual acuity limits the visibility of a ground-nesting bird's clutch to terrestrial predators

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publicAug 2023View details →

opencc-zeroAug 2020View details →

Negative effect of turbidity on prey capture for both visual and non-visual aquatic predators

1. Turbidity plays an important role in aquatic predator-prey interactions. Increases in turbidity are expected to reduce prey capture rates, especially for visually oriented predators. However, there is also evidence indicating that turbidity may have little or no effect on predation rates. 2. Here, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the relationship between turbidity and capture rate. We explored possible sources of heterogeneity in the effect sizes (capture strategy, predator's body size, relative eye size and turbidity range in the experiments) while controlling for the dependence among effects sizes and phylogenetic relationships among predator species. 3. We found a consistent negative effect of turbidity on prey capture and that turbidity range (manipulated in the experiments) was the main factor accounting for between-study variation in effect sizes. Also, capture rates of both visually and non-visually oriented predators decreased with an increase in turbidity. In addition, for visually oriented fish predators, the relative eye size did not influence the effect sizes. 4. Despite the paucity of studies for some groups of aquatic predators (mainly in tropical regions), we provide corroborative evidence that turbidity is a critical environmental factor controlling predator-prey interactions. This result is especially relevant considering that changes in turbidity is a human-induced pervasive environmental alteration resulted from, among other mechanisms, runoff after deforestation, eutrophication or oligotrophication in reservoir cascades, which imply changes in predator-prey interactions.

opencc-zeroJul 2019View details →

Data from: Nest structure affects auditory and visual detectability, but not predation risk, in a tropical songbird community

1. Offspring mortality varies dramatically among species with critical demographic and evolutionary ramifications, yet the causes of this variation remain unclear. Nests are widely used for breeding across taxa and thought to influence offspring mortality risk. Traditionally, more complex, enclosed nest structures are thought to reduce offspring predation by reducing the visibility of nest contents and muffling offspring sounds compared to open nests. Direct tests of the functional bases for nest structure influences on predation risk are lacking. 2. We used experiments and 10 years of observational data to examine how nest structure influences nest predation risk in a diverse community of tropical songbirds. First, we examined how nest size was related to nest structure and nest predation rates across species. Second, we assessed how nest structure influences the detectability of nestling begging calls both in field and laboratory settings. Finally, we examined how the acoustic properties of different nest structures influence nest predation risk. Specifically, we experimentally broadcast begging calls from open and enclosed nests to determine how auditory cues and nest structure interact to affect predation on plasticine and quail eggs. We also tested whether nest structure was associated with differences in nest predation rates between the incubation (no begging cues) and nestling (begging cues) stages. 3. We found that enclosed nests are larger than open nests after accounting for adult size, and larger nests had increased predation rates. Moreover, enclosed nests did not consistently alter nestling begging calls in ways that reduce the likelihood of predation compared to open nests. Indeed, begging cues increased predation rates for enclosed but not open cup nests in our playback experiment, and nest predation rates showed greater increases after hatching in enclosed than open cup nests. 4. Ultimately, enclosed nests do not necessarily provide greater predation benefits than open nests in contrast to long standing theory.

opencc-zeroJun 2022View details →

Data for: The visual ecology of selective predation: Are unhealthy hosts less stealthy hosts?

Predators can strongly influence disease transmission and evolution, particularly when they prey selectively on infected hosts. Although selective predation has been observed in numerous systems, why predators select infected prey remains poorly understood. Here, we use a mathematical model of predator vision to test a longstanding hypothesis about the mechanistic basis of selective predation in a Daphnia-microparasite system, which serves as a model for the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases. Bluegill sunfish feed selectively on Daphnia infected by a variety of parasites, particularly in water uncolored by dissolved organic carbon. The leading hypothesis for selective predation in this system is that infection-induced changes in the transparency of Daphnia render them more visible to bluegill. Rigorously evaluating this hypothesis requires that we quantify the effect of infection on the visibility of prey from the predator's perspective, rather than our own. Using a model of the bluegill visual system, we show that three common parasites, Metschnikowia bicuspidata, Pasteuria ramosa and Spirobacillus cienkowskii, decrease the transparency of Daphnia, rendering infected Daphnia darker against a background of downwelling light. As a result of this increased brightness contrast, bluegill can see infected Daphnia at greater distances than uninfected Daphnia - between 19-33% further, depending on the parasite. Pasteuria and Spirobacillus also increase the chromatic contrast of Daphnia. These findings lend support to the hypothesis that selective predation by fish on infected Daphnia could result from the effects of infection on Daphnia's visibility. However, contrary to expectations, the visibility of Daphnia was not strongly impacted by water color in our model. Our work demonstrates that models of animal visual systems can be useful in understanding ecological interactions that impact disease transmission.

opencc-zeroDec 2016View details →

Data from: Correlated evolution between colouration and ambush site in predators with visual prey lures

The evolution of a visual signal will be affected by signaller and receiver behaviour, and by the physical properties of the environment where the signal is displayed. Crab spiders are typical sit-and-wait predators found in diverse ambush sites, such as tree bark, foliage and flowers. Some of the flower-dweller species present a UV+-white visual lure that makes them conspicuous and attractive to their prey. We hypothesised that UV+-white colouration was associated with the evolution of a flower-dwelling habit. In addition, following up on results from a previous study we tested whether the UV+-white colouration evolved predominantly in flower-dwelling species occurring in Australia. We measured the reflectance of 1149 specimens from 66 species collected in Australia and Europe, reconstructed a crab spider phylogeny, and applied phylogenetic comparative methods to test our hypotheses. We found that the flower-dwelling habit evolved independently multiple times, and that this trait was correlated with the evolution of the UV+-white colouration. However, outside Australia non-flower-dwelling crab spiders also express a UV+-white colouration. Therefore, UV+-white reflectance is probably a recurring adaptation of some flower-dwellers for attracting pollinators, although it may have other functions in non-flower-dwellers, such as camouflage.

zenodo36/100

Static visual predator recognition in jumping spiders

Visually detecting, recognizing, and responding appropriately to predators increases survival. Failure to detect a predator or long decision times carry high and potentially fatal costs. Consequently, many animals show general anti-predatory responses toward threatening stimuli, e.g., looming objects. However, in the context of lurking or stalking ambush predators, visual recognition is based on static visual cues, making this task computationally demanding. Jumping spiders (Salticidae) have superb vision and are excellent ambush predators but they can equally fall prey to other jumping spiders. In a hierarchical decision-making setup, we tested whether the common zebra jumping spider (Salticus scenicus) can visually recognize stationary predators. We measured the spiders’ behavioural responses towards predator (naturally co-occurring, non-co-occurring and artificial) and non-predator objects as well as towards objects with modified features. Our experiments show that salticids demonstrate a robust, fast, and repeatable “freeze and retreat” behaviour when presented with stationary predators, but not similarly sized non-predator objects. Anti-predator responses were triggered by co-occurring and non-co-occurring salticid predators, as well as by 3D-printed salticid models (based on micro-CT scans), suggesting a generalized predator detection/classification. Using modified 3D-printed models, we found evidence that eyes act as an important cue. However, eyes alone did not explain the responses, suggesting that underlying processes rely on multiple rather than single features. To address the role of learning and memory, we tested newly emerged spiderlings and found the same behavioural responses towards predator objects suggesting an innate response. The ability of jumping spiders to innately recognize a non-moving threat is surprising in terms of underlying cognitive processes and the evolution thereof. Escaping from a predator before an attack has been launched likely carries sufficient selective benefits. From a cognitive perspective, the overlap of static visual characteristics between salticid predators, prey, and conspecifics invites further questions considering the mechanisms of such nuanced visual discrimination and categorization in animals with complex vision but relatively small nervous systems.

opencc-by-4.0Oct 2021View details →

publicMay 2017View details →

Data from: Correlated evolution between colouration and ambush site in predators with visual prey lures

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publicJul 2019View details →

Data from: Nest structure affects auditory and visual detectability, but not predation risk, in a tropical songbird community

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publicJun 2022View details →

Data for: The visual ecology of selective predation: Are unhealthy hosts less stealthy hosts?

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publicAug 2020View details →

Negative effect of turbidity on prey capture for both visual and non-visual aquatic predators

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publicApr 2021View details →

Acoustic and visual stimuli combined promote stronger responses to aerial predation in fish

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