Seawater carbonate chemistry and the predator–prey interactions of a pair of common coral reef fishes (Pomacentrus wardi and its predator, Pseudochromis fuscus)

• Main Authors: McCormick, Mark I, Watson, Sue-Ann, Simpson, Stephen D, Allan, Bridie J M
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA - Data Publisher for Earth & Environmental Science 2018
• Subjects: Animalia; Behaviour; Chordata; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria 20-1000 L or < 1 m**2; Laboratory experiment; Nekton; Other; Pelagos; Pomacentrus wardi; Pseudochromis fuscus; South Pacific; Species interaction; Tropical; Type; Species; Registration number of species; Uniform resource locator/link to reference; Treatment; Identification; Predation rate; Attack rate; Predator attack distance; Predator attack speed; Apparent looming threshold; Prey escape distance; Prey escape speed; Prey reaction distance; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard error; Salinity; Salinity, standard error; pH; pH, standard error; Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard error; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air, standard error; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Fugacity of carbon dioxide water at sea surface temperature wet air; Bicarbonate ion; Carbonate ion; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Aragonite saturation state; Calcite saturation state; Experiment; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. 2010; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre OA-ICC; Pacific; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.924257; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.924257

Oceans of the future are predicted to be more acidic and noisier, particularly along the productive coastal fringe. This study examined the independent and combined effects of short-term exposure to elevated CO2 and boat noise on the predator–prey interactions of a pair of common coral reef fishes (Pomacentrus wardi and its predator, Pseudochromis fuscus). Successful capture of prey by predators was the same regardless of whether the pairs had been exposed to ambient control conditions, the addition of either playback of boat noise, elevated CO2 (925 µatm) or both stressors simultaneously. The kinematics of the interaction were the same for all stressor combinations and differed from the controls. The effects of CO2 or boat noise were the same, suggesting that their effects were substitutive in this situation. Prey reduced their perception of threat under both stressors individually and when combined, and this coincided with reduced predator attack distances and attack speeds. The lack of an additive or multiplicative effect when both stressors co-occurred was notable given the different mechanisms involved in sensory disruptions and highlights the importance of determining the combined effects of key drivers to aid in predicting community dynamics under future environmental scenarios. : In order to allow full comparability with other ocean acidification data sets, the R package seacarb (Gattuso et al, 2019) was used to compute a complete and consistent set of carbonate system variables, as described by Nisumaa et al. (2010). In this dataset the original values were archived in addition with the recalculated parameters (see related PI). The date of carbonate chemistry calculation by seacarb is 2020-10-30.