Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey
Bioluminescence, which occurs in approximately 80% of the world's mesopelagic fauna, can take the form of a low-intensity continuous glow (e.g. for counter-illumination or signalling) or fast repetitions of brighter anti-predatory flashes. The southern elephant seal (SES) is a major consumer of...
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fthighwire:oai:open-archive.highwire.org:jexbio:223/10/jeb222810 2023-05-15T16:05:22+02:00 Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey Goulet, Pauline Guinet, Christophe Campagna, Claudio Campagna, Julieta Tyack, Peter Lloyd Johnson, Mark 2020-05-19 15:00:18.0 text/html http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/223/10/jeb222810 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222810 en eng The Company of Biologists Ltd http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/223/10/jeb222810 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222810 Copyright (C) 2020, Company of Biologists RESEARCH ARTICLE TEXT 2020 fthighwire https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222810 2020-06-16T09:49:33Z Bioluminescence, which occurs in approximately 80% of the world's mesopelagic fauna, can take the form of a low-intensity continuous glow (e.g. for counter-illumination or signalling) or fast repetitions of brighter anti-predatory flashes. The southern elephant seal (SES) is a major consumer of mesopelagic organisms, in particular the abundant myctophid fish, yet the fine-scale relationship between this predator's foraging behaviour and bioluminescent prey remains poorly understood. We hypothesised that brief, intense light emissions should be closely connected with prey strikes when the seal is targeting bioluminescent prey that reacts by emitting anti-predator flashes. To test this, we developed a biologging device containing a fast-sampling light sensor together with location and movement sensors to measure simultaneously anti-predator bioluminescent emissions and the predator's attack motions with a 20 ms resolution. Tags were deployed on female SES breeding at Kerguelen Islands and Pen i ´ nsula Vald e ´ s, Argentina. In situ light levels in combination with duration of prey capture attempts indicated that seals were targeting a variety of prey types. For some individuals, bioluminescent flashes occurred in a large proportion of prey strikes, with the timing of flashes closely connected with the predator's attack motion, suggestive of anti-predator emissions. Marked differences across individuals and location indicate that SES do exploit bioluminescent organisms but the proportion of these in the diet varies widely with location. The combination of wideband light and acceleration data provides new insight into where and when different prey types are encountered and how effectively they might be captured. Text Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Kerguelen Islands Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals HighWire Press (Stanford University) Argentina Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands Journal of Experimental Biology 223 10 |
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HighWire Press (Stanford University) |
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English |
topic |
RESEARCH ARTICLE |
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RESEARCH ARTICLE Goulet, Pauline Guinet, Christophe Campagna, Claudio Campagna, Julieta Tyack, Peter Lloyd Johnson, Mark Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
topic_facet |
RESEARCH ARTICLE |
description |
Bioluminescence, which occurs in approximately 80% of the world's mesopelagic fauna, can take the form of a low-intensity continuous glow (e.g. for counter-illumination or signalling) or fast repetitions of brighter anti-predatory flashes. The southern elephant seal (SES) is a major consumer of mesopelagic organisms, in particular the abundant myctophid fish, yet the fine-scale relationship between this predator's foraging behaviour and bioluminescent prey remains poorly understood. We hypothesised that brief, intense light emissions should be closely connected with prey strikes when the seal is targeting bioluminescent prey that reacts by emitting anti-predator flashes. To test this, we developed a biologging device containing a fast-sampling light sensor together with location and movement sensors to measure simultaneously anti-predator bioluminescent emissions and the predator's attack motions with a 20 ms resolution. Tags were deployed on female SES breeding at Kerguelen Islands and Pen i ´ nsula Vald e ´ s, Argentina. In situ light levels in combination with duration of prey capture attempts indicated that seals were targeting a variety of prey types. For some individuals, bioluminescent flashes occurred in a large proportion of prey strikes, with the timing of flashes closely connected with the predator's attack motion, suggestive of anti-predator emissions. Marked differences across individuals and location indicate that SES do exploit bioluminescent organisms but the proportion of these in the diet varies widely with location. The combination of wideband light and acceleration data provides new insight into where and when different prey types are encountered and how effectively they might be captured. |
format |
Text |
author |
Goulet, Pauline Guinet, Christophe Campagna, Claudio Campagna, Julieta Tyack, Peter Lloyd Johnson, Mark |
author_facet |
Goulet, Pauline Guinet, Christophe Campagna, Claudio Campagna, Julieta Tyack, Peter Lloyd Johnson, Mark |
author_sort |
Goulet, Pauline |
title |
Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
title_short |
Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
title_full |
Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
title_fullStr |
Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
title_full_unstemmed |
Flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
title_sort |
flash and grab: deep-diving southern elephant seals trigger anti-predator flashes in bioluminescent prey |
publisher |
The Company of Biologists Ltd |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/223/10/jeb222810 https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222810 |
geographic |
Argentina Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands |
geographic_facet |
Argentina Kerguelen Kerguelen Islands |
genre |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Kerguelen Islands Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
genre_facet |
Elephant Seal Elephant Seals Kerguelen Islands Southern Elephant Seal Southern Elephant Seals |
op_relation |
http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/content/short/223/10/jeb222810 http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222810 |
op_rights |
Copyright (C) 2020, Company of Biologists |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.222810 |
container_title |
Journal of Experimental Biology |
container_volume |
223 |
container_issue |
10 |
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1766401258978017280 |