Olfactory foraging in temperate waters: sensitivity to dimethylsulfide of shearwaters in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea

• Published in: Journal of Experimental Biology
• Main Authors: Dell'Ariccia, Gaia, Aurélie, Celerier, Gabirot, Marianne, Palmas, Pauline, Massa, Bruno, Bonadonna, Francesco
• Other Authors: Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE), Université Paul-Valéry - Montpellier 3 (UPVM)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Centre international d'études supérieures en sciences agronomiques (Montpellier SupAgro)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD France-Sud )-Institut national d’études supérieures agronomiques de Montpellier (Montpellier SupAgro), Università degli studi di Palermo - University of Palermo, G.D.A. was funded by the Fyssen Foundation (Fellowship 2010) and by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship PIEF-GA-2010-272282-SOMA . The Mediterranean fieldwork of this research was possible thanks to a collaborative project between the CEFE-CNRS and the University of Palermo financed by a Journal of Experimental Biology Travelling Fellowship awarded to G.D.A. (Award 2010). M.G. was supported by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche Française AMBO ANR-08-BLAN-0117-01 ., ANR-08-BLAN-0117,AMBO,Attractiveness of mates based on odours: the case of petrel seabirds(2008)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2014
• Subjects: DMS; Foraging; Odour cues; Olfaction; Petrels; Procellariiform seabirds; [SDV.BA]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Animal biology; Antarc*; Antarctic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04213651; https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.097931

International audience Many procellariiforms use olfactory cues to locate food patches over the seemingly featureless ocean surface. In particular, some of them are able to detect and are attracted by dimethylsulphide (DMS), a volatile compound naturally occurring over worldwide oceans in correspondence with productive feeding areas. However, current knowledge is restricted to sub-Antarctic species, and to only one study realized under natural conditions at sea. Here, for the first time, we investigated the response to DMS in parallel in two different environments in temperate waters, the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, employing Cory's (Calonectris borealis) and Scopoli's (Calonectris diomedea) shearwaters as models. To test whether these birds can detect and respond to DMS, we presented them with this substance in a Y-maze. Then, to determine whether they use this molecule in natural conditions, we tested the response to DMS at sea. The number of birds that chose DMS in the Y-maze and that were recruited at DMS-scented slicks at sea suggests that these shearwaters are attracted to DMS in both non-foraging and natural contexts. Our findings show that the use of DMS as a foraging cue may be a strategy adopted by procellariiforms across oceans but that regional differences may exist, giving a worldwide perspective to previous hypotheses concerning the use of DMS as chemical cue.