Dataset from: McCormick MI, Allan BJM (2016) Lionfish misidentification circumvents an optimised escape response by prey. Conservation Physiology 4:cow064

Full description

Dataset contains fast-start kinematic variables for juvenile Pomacentrus chrysurus (white-tailed damselfish; Pomacentridae) that was used in an experiment to look at whether forewarning of a predator affects the fast-start performance of the fish.

Data from: McCormick MI, Allan BJM (2016) Lionfish misidentification circumvents an optimised escape response by prey. Conservation Physiology 4:cow064.

Abstract [Related Publication]: Invasive lionfish represent an unprecedented problem in the Caribbean basin, where they are causing major changes to foodwebs and habitats through their generalized predation on fishes and invertebrates. To ascertain what makes the red lionfish (Pterois volitans) such a formidable predator, we examined the reaction of a native damselfish prey, the whitetail damsel (Pomacentrus chrysurus), to a repeatable startle stimulus once they had been forewarned of the sight or smell of lionfish. Faststart responses were compared with prey forewarned of a predatory rockcod (Cephalopholis microprion), a corallivorous butterflyfish (Chaetodon trifasctiatus) and experimental controls. Forewarning of the sight, smell or a combination of the two cues from a rockcod led to reduced escape latencies and higher response distances, speed and maximal speed compared with controls, suggesting that forewarning primed the prey and enabled a more effective escape response. In contrast, forewarning of lionfish did not affect the fast-start kinematics measured, which were the same as in the control and nonpredatory butterflyfish treatments. Lionfish appear to be able to circumvent mechanisms commonly used by prey to identify predators and were misclassified as non-predatory, and this is likely to contribute to their success as predators.

The full methodology is available in the Open Access publication from the Related Publications link below.

Notes

This dataset is available as a spreadsheet in MS Excel (.xlsx) and Open Document formats (.ods)