Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster

American lobsters ( Homarus americanus ) will on rare occasions produce sounds by vibrating their dorsal carapace. Although this behavior can be elicited in the laboratory by handling lobsters, the stimulus that triggers the production of sounds in the lobster's natural habitat is not known. We...

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Published in:Journal of Experimental Biology
Main Authors: Ward, Daniel, Morison, Françoise, Morrissey, Elizabeth, Jenks, Kyle, Watson, Winsor H.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Company of Biologists 2011
Subjects:
Online Access:http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/214/15/2641
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976
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spelling fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jexbio:214/15/2641 2023-05-15T16:19:17+02:00 Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster Ward, Daniel Morison, Françoise Morrissey, Elizabeth Jenks, Kyle Watson, Winsor H. 2011-08-01 00:00:00.0 text/html http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/214/15/2641 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976 en eng Company of Biologists http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/214/15/2641 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976 Copyright (C) 2011, Company of Biologists Research Articles TEXT 2011 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976 2013-05-27T12:26:26Z American lobsters ( Homarus americanus ) will on rare occasions produce sounds by vibrating their dorsal carapace. Although this behavior can be elicited in the laboratory by handling lobsters, the stimulus that triggers the production of sounds in the lobster's natural habitat is not known. We investigated the influence of two fish that are known to prey on lobsters, cod ( Gadus morhua ) and striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ), on the production of sounds by American lobsters. In addition, we examined the response of the same fish to the sounds the lobsters produced. Although solitary lobsters spontaneously produced sounds at a low rate of 1.2±0.23 sound events per 30 min, the presence of a single cod or striped bass led to an increase in the rate of sound production (cod: 51.1±13.1 events per 30 min; striped bass: 17.0±7.0 events per 30 min). Most (74.6±6.6%) of the 292 sound events recorded occurred when a fish came within 0.5 m of a lobster, but a fish did not have to come into contact with a lobster to elicit sounds. Immediately following the production of a sound by a lobster, fish turned and swam away significantly faster than when they encountered a lobster that did not make a sound. Moreover, after striped bass (but not cod) experienced a number of these sound events, they subsequently tended to avoid swimming close to the lobsters. These data, taken together, suggest that sound production by American lobsters may serve to deter potential fish predators. Text Gadus morhua HighWire Press (Stanford University) Journal of Experimental Biology 214 15 2641 2648
institution Open Polar
collection HighWire Press (Stanford University)
op_collection_id fthighwire
language English
topic Research Articles
spellingShingle Research Articles
Ward, Daniel
Morison, Françoise
Morrissey, Elizabeth
Jenks, Kyle
Watson, Winsor H.
Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster
topic_facet Research Articles
description American lobsters ( Homarus americanus ) will on rare occasions produce sounds by vibrating their dorsal carapace. Although this behavior can be elicited in the laboratory by handling lobsters, the stimulus that triggers the production of sounds in the lobster's natural habitat is not known. We investigated the influence of two fish that are known to prey on lobsters, cod ( Gadus morhua ) and striped bass ( Morone saxatilis ), on the production of sounds by American lobsters. In addition, we examined the response of the same fish to the sounds the lobsters produced. Although solitary lobsters spontaneously produced sounds at a low rate of 1.2±0.23 sound events per 30 min, the presence of a single cod or striped bass led to an increase in the rate of sound production (cod: 51.1±13.1 events per 30 min; striped bass: 17.0±7.0 events per 30 min). Most (74.6±6.6%) of the 292 sound events recorded occurred when a fish came within 0.5 m of a lobster, but a fish did not have to come into contact with a lobster to elicit sounds. Immediately following the production of a sound by a lobster, fish turned and swam away significantly faster than when they encountered a lobster that did not make a sound. Moreover, after striped bass (but not cod) experienced a number of these sound events, they subsequently tended to avoid swimming close to the lobsters. These data, taken together, suggest that sound production by American lobsters may serve to deter potential fish predators.
format Text
author Ward, Daniel
Morison, Françoise
Morrissey, Elizabeth
Jenks, Kyle
Watson, Winsor H.
author_facet Ward, Daniel
Morison, Françoise
Morrissey, Elizabeth
Jenks, Kyle
Watson, Winsor H.
author_sort Ward, Daniel
title Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster
title_short Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster
title_full Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster
title_fullStr Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster
title_full_unstemmed Evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the American lobster
title_sort evidence that potential fish predators elicit the production of carapace vibrations by the american lobster
publisher Company of Biologists
publishDate 2011
url http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/214/15/2641
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976
genre Gadus morhua
genre_facet Gadus morhua
op_relation http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/214/15/2641
http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976
op_rights Copyright (C) 2011, Company of Biologists
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.057976
container_title Journal of Experimental Biology
container_volume 214
container_issue 15
container_start_page 2641
op_container_end_page 2648
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