Diversity and Adaptation in Fish Behaviour

About this book

Paperback reprint of a book originally published in 1979. Fish are extremely successful vertebrates. Because of a long and divergent history they are now found in almost every conceivable aquatic habitat. This radiation has been accompanied by great diversity in structure, physiology, and behaviour. Despite this variability, fish must solve a number of basic problems that are common to all animals. The most important of these are: (1) to find and ingest appropriate food; (2) to avoid predation; and (3) to reproduce. The main purpose of this book is to describe the variety of behavioural strategies that fish use in coping with these problems.

The author's approach has been to draw together material from both field and laboratory work that is widely scattered in the literature. The major emphasis is on field studies, since the author's main concern is with adaptive solutions to problems, and he believes these are most likely to be correctly perceived by workers who are familiar with the natural ecological setting of their animals. Of course, many details of behaviour cannot be seen and quantified adequately in the field, and therefore he has not ignored laboratory studies. However, even here he has concentrated on work that illustrates the variety of solutions that fish use to solve the three basic problems. Much important work, for instance on causation, development, and learning, is not included.

Contents

1 Locomotion.- 1.1 Propulsion.- 1.1.1 Use of Body and/or Caudal Fin.- 1.1.2 Use of Extended Median or Pectoral Fins.- 1.1.3 Use of Shortened Median or Pectoral Fins.- 1.2 Manoeuvering and Stabilizing.- 1.3 Drag-Reducing Mechanisms.- 1.3.1 Schooling Behaviour.- 1.3.2 Mucous Production.- 1.4 Locomotion in Air.- 1.5 Locomotion on Land.- 2 Feeding Behaviour.- 2.1 Detritivores.- 2.2 Scavengers.- 2.3 Herbivores.- 2.3.1 Grazers.- 2.3.2 Browsers.- 2.3.3 Phytoplanktivores.- 2.4 Carnivores.- 2.4.1 Benthivores.- 2.4.1.1 Picking at Relatively Small Prey.- 2.4.1.2 Disturbing, then Picking at Prey.- 2.4.1.3 Picking up Substrate and Sorting Prey.- 2.4.1.4 Grasping Relatively Large Prey.- 2.4.2 Zooplanktivores.- 2.4.2.1 Prey Selection.- 2.4.3 Aerial Feeders.- 2.4.4 Piscivores.- 2.4.4.1 Ambush Hunting.- 2.4.4.2 Luring.- 2.4.4.3 Stalking.- 2.4.4.4 Chasing.- 2.4.4.5 Parasites.- 2.5 Group Feeding.- 2.5.1 Planktivores.- 2.5.2 Piscivores.- 2.5.3 Benthivores.- 2.6 General Comments on Feeding Behaviour.- 3 Anti-Predator Behaviour.- 3.1 Primary Anti-Predator Mechanisms.- 3.1.1 Hiding.- 3.1.2 Camouflage.- 3.1.2.1 Countershading.- 3.1.2.2 Resemblance to Surroundings.- 3.2 Secondary Anti-Predator Mechanisms.- 3.2.1 Flight into Shelter.- 3.2.2 Individual Evasive Action.- 3.2.3 Group Action.- 3.2.3.1 Reduced Probability of Detection by Predators.- 3.2.3.2 Increased Probability of Detecting Predators.- 3.2.3.3 "Alarm Reaction".- 3.2.3.4 Schooling as Shelter-Seeking.- 3.2.3.5 Inhibition of Attack.- 3.2.3.6 "Confusion Effect".- 3.2.4 Aggressive Defence.- 3.3 General Comments on Anti-Predator Behaviour.- 4 Selection and Preparation of Spawning Site.- 4.1 Spawning Surface Cleaned.- 4.2 Spawning Site Excavated.- 4.2.1 Eggs Buried.- 4.2.1.1 Petromyzontidae.- 4.2.1.2 Salmonidae.- 4.2.1.3 Cyprinidae.- 4.2.2 Eggs Exposed.- 4.2.2.1 Centrarchidae.- 4.2.2.2 Cichlidae.- 4.2.3 Eggs Sheltered.- 4.2.4 Eggs Carried Away.- 4.3 Nest Built of Collected Materials.- 4.3.1 Belontiidae.- 4.3.2 Gasterosteidae.- 5 Breeding Behaviour.- 5.1 Functions of Courtship Behaviour.- 5.1.1 Attraction and Identification.- 5.1.2 Arousal, Appeasement, and Synchrony.- 5.1.3 Long-Term Effects.- 5.2 Mating with External Fertilization.- 5.2.1 Species with Pelagic Eggs.- 5.2.2 Species with Demersal Eggs, no Prolonged Guarding.- 5.2.2.1 Eggs Released onto Substrate.- 5.2.2.2 Eggs Buried in Substrate.- 5.2.2.3 Eggs Placed Inside Shelters.- 5.2.3 Species with Demersal Eggs and Prolonged Guarding.- 5.2.3.1 Eggs Released onto Substrate.- 5.2.3.2 Eggs Placed in Enclosed Shelter.- 5.2.3.3 Eggs Placed in Constructed Nest.- 5.2.4 Species that Carry Their Eggs.- 5.3 Mating with Internal Fertilization.- 6 Parental Behaviour.- 6.1 Care and Protection of Eggs.- 6.1.1 Eggs at One Location.- 6.1.2 Eggs Carried by One or Both Parents.- 6.1.2.1 Methods of Carrying Eggs.- 6.1.2.2 Quantitative Aspects of Oral Egg-Brooding.- 6.2 Care of Post-Hatch Young.- 6.2.1 Short-Term Care of Young.- 6.2.2 Long-Term Care of Young.- 6.2.2.1 Responses of Cichlid Fry to Parental Cues.- 6.2.2.2 Direct Contact of Parents by Fry.- 6.2.2.3 Responses of Cichlid Parents to Progeny Cues.- 6.2.2.4 Communal Care of Young.- 6.3 Male-Female Roles in Parental Behaviour..- 6.4 Evolution of Parental Behaviour.- 6.4.1 Evolution of Oral Brooding of Young.- 6.4.2 Evolution of Male-Female Parental Roles.- 7 Social Organization.- 7.1 Single Fishes.- 7.1.1 Solitary Fishes.- 7.1.1.1 Chaetodontidae.- 7.1.1.2 Esocidae.- 7.1.1.3 Miscellaneous.- 7.1.2 Territorial Mosaics.- 7.1.2.1 Blenniidae.- 7.1.2.2 Pomacentridae.- 7.1.2.3 Salmonidae.- 7.2 Male-Female Pairs.- 7.3 Small Groups.- 7.3.1 Anemonefishes (Pomacentridae).- 7.3.2 Dascyllus (Pomacentridae).- 7.4 Schools.- 7.4.1 Behaviour of Fish in Schools.- 7.4.1.1 Relatively Stationary Schools.- 7.4.1.2 Relatively Mobile Schools.- 7.5 Evolution of Social Systems.- References.- Systematic Index.

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