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Predator-induced morphology enhances escape locomotion in crucian carp

Domenici, Paolo ; Turesson, Håkan LU ; Brodersen, Jakob LU and Brönmark, Christer LU (2008) In Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences 275(1631). p.195-201
Abstract
Fishes show a remarkable diversity of shapes which have been associated with their swimming abilities and anti-predator adaptations. The crucian carp (Carassius carassius) provides an extreme example of phenotypic plasticity in body shape which makes it a unique model organism for evaluating the relationship between body form and function in fishes. In crucian carp, a deep body is induced by the presence of pike (Esox lucius), and this results in lower vulnerability to gape-limited predators, such as pike itself. Here, we demonstrate that deep-bodied crucian carp attain higher speed, acceleration and turning rate during anti-predator responses than shallow-bodied crucian carp. Therefore, a predator-induced morphology in crucian carp... (More)
Fishes show a remarkable diversity of shapes which have been associated with their swimming abilities and anti-predator adaptations. The crucian carp (Carassius carassius) provides an extreme example of phenotypic plasticity in body shape which makes it a unique model organism for evaluating the relationship between body form and function in fishes. In crucian carp, a deep body is induced by the presence of pike (Esox lucius), and this results in lower vulnerability to gape-limited predators, such as pike itself. Here, we demonstrate that deep-bodied crucian carp attain higher speed, acceleration and turning rate during anti-predator responses than shallow-bodied crucian carp. Therefore, a predator-induced morphology in crucian carp enhances their escape locomotor performance. The deep-bodied carp also show higher percentage of muscle mass. Therefore, their superior performance in escape swimming may be due to a combination of higher muscle power and higher thrust. (Less)
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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
swimming performance, fish shape, induced morphology, predator–prey interactions, crucian carp, escape response
in
Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences
volume
275
issue
1631
pages
195 - 201
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • wos:000251724500011
  • scopus:36448955715
ISSN
1471-2954
DOI
10.1098/rspb.2007.1088
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
32f12759-13ab-47ad-8f4a-71622a381f95 (old id 936956)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:10:24
date last changed
2022-04-21 03:31:21
@article{32f12759-13ab-47ad-8f4a-71622a381f95,
  abstract     = {{Fishes show a remarkable diversity of shapes which have been associated with their swimming abilities and anti-predator adaptations. The crucian carp (Carassius carassius) provides an extreme example of phenotypic plasticity in body shape which makes it a unique model organism for evaluating the relationship between body form and function in fishes. In crucian carp, a deep body is induced by the presence of pike (Esox lucius), and this results in lower vulnerability to gape-limited predators, such as pike itself. Here, we demonstrate that deep-bodied crucian carp attain higher speed, acceleration and turning rate during anti-predator responses than shallow-bodied crucian carp. Therefore, a predator-induced morphology in crucian carp enhances their escape locomotor performance. The deep-bodied carp also show higher percentage of muscle mass. Therefore, their superior performance in escape swimming may be due to a combination of higher muscle power and higher thrust.}},
  author       = {{Domenici, Paolo and Turesson, Håkan and Brodersen, Jakob and Brönmark, Christer}},
  issn         = {{1471-2954}},
  keywords     = {{swimming performance; fish shape; induced morphology; predator–prey interactions; crucian carp; escape response}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1631}},
  pages        = {{195--201}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Royal Society of London. Proceedings B. Biological Sciences}},
  title        = {{Predator-induced morphology enhances escape locomotion in crucian carp}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2007.1088}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rspb.2007.1088}},
  volume       = {{275}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}