Natures wonders: helpful fish distress call (Introduction)

by David Turell , Wednesday, October 28, 2015, 14:08 (3312 days ago) @ David Turell

Damsel fish release a chemical when in distress that helps save them:-http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151027213415.htm-"When damselfish release their chemical alarm on a coral reef, lots of additional predators are attracted to the cue release area," says Professor McCormick.-"'More predators would seem to mean more trouble, but we discovered that additional predators interfere with the initial predation event, allowing the prey a greater chance to escape."-"The research team found the new predators would attempt to steal the prey, and in the ensuing commotion the captured damselfish had a greater chance to break free and hide.-"'When caught by a predator, small damselfish have almost no chance of escaping their fate as the predator's next meal. However, when another fish predator is attracted to the capture site, prey will escape about 40 percent of the time," says Professor McCormick.-"Dr Lönnstedt says this proves that chemical alarm cues benefit the sender by giving it a much greater chance of not ending up as dinner.-"'These findings are the first to demonstrate an evolutionary mechanism by which fish may benefit from the production and release of chemical alarm cues, and highlight the complex and important role chemical cues play in predator-prey interactions on coral reefs." Dr. Lönnstedt says.-"'It all goes to show that coral reef fish have evolved quite a range of clever strategies for survival which are deployed when a threatening situation demands.'"-Comment: A very common strategy with animals and also plants.