Increasingly cautious sampling, not the black colouration of unpalatable prey, is used by fish in avoidance learning

cris.virtual.author-orcid0000-0002-3341-0933
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cris.virtualsource.author-orcid1f7c3a90-493f-47c8-a396-aab527605ee8
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dc.abstract.enThe efficiency of aposematic colouration of prey is based on the innate bias or facilitation of avoidance learning of preda tors. In many toxic bufonids, larvae are uniformly black, which is considered a warning signal. We compared fish predation on normal (black) and ‘transient albino’ (greyish) common toad Bufo bufo tadpoles that did not differ in toxicity or activity. In a two-stage experiment, each fish was presented with tadpoles of one colour in the first trial and the other colour in a subsequent trial. While tadpoles sampled by fish were typically not ingested, some died from injuries. The attack rate did not differ between tadpole phenotypes nor trials, irrespective of which phenotype was the first exposed to the fish. However, during the second trial, the sampled tadpoles, independent of colouration, were mouthed by fish for shorter periods and tadpole mortality decreased. The duration of mouthing also declined with an increasing number of attacks during subsequent trials. We conclude that in single-species prey populations, black tadpole colouration is not a warning signal as it does not accelerate predator learning about prey unprofitability. Our results indicate that with growing experience, predators sample potentially toxic prey more cautiously. This may explain why natural selection does not eliminate aposematic morphs even if predators continuously sample conspicuous prey
dc.affiliationWydział Medycyny Weterynaryjnej i Nauk o Zwierzętach
dc.affiliation.instituteKatedra Zoologii
dc.contributor.authorKaczmarski, Mikołaj
dc.contributor.authorKaczmarek, Jan M.
dc.contributor.authorKowalski, Krzysztof
dc.contributor.authorBorowski, Karol
dc.contributor.authorKęsy, Jacek
dc.contributor.authorKloskowski, Janusz
dc.date.access2025-05-29
dc.date.accessioned2025-09-01T09:22:24Z
dc.date.available2025-09-01T09:22:24Z
dc.date.copyright2023-07-28
dc.date.issued2023
dc.description.abstract<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>The efficiency of aposematic colouration of prey is based on the innate bias or facilitation of avoidance learning of predators. In many toxic bufonids, larvae are uniformly black, which is considered a warning signal. We compared fish predation on normal (black) and ‘transient albino’ (greyish) common toad <jats:italic>Bufo bufo</jats:italic> tadpoles that did not differ in toxicity or activity. In a two-stage experiment, each fish was presented with tadpoles of one colour in the first trial and the other colour in a subsequent trial. While tadpoles sampled by fish were typically not ingested, some died from injuries. The attack rate did not differ between tadpole phenotypes nor trials, irrespective of which phenotype was the first exposed to the fish. However, during the second trial, the sampled tadpoles, independent of colouration, were mouthed by fish for shorter periods and tadpole mortality decreased. The duration of mouthing also declined with an increasing number of attacks during subsequent trials. We conclude that in single-species prey populations, black tadpole colouration is not a warning signal as it does not accelerate predator learning about prey unprofitability. Our results indicate that with growing experience, predators sample potentially toxic prey more cautiously. This may explain why natural selection does not eliminate aposematic morphs even if predators continuously sample conspicuous prey.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.bibliographyil., bibliogr.
dc.description.financepublication_nocost
dc.description.financecost0,00
dc.description.if1,9
dc.description.number5
dc.description.points140
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume26
dc.identifier.doi10.1007/s10071-023-01815-9
dc.identifier.eissn1435-9456
dc.identifier.issn1435-9448
dc.identifier.urihttps://sciencerep.up.poznan.pl/handle/item/4556
dc.identifier.weblinkhttp://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10071-023-01815-9
dc.languageen
dc.relation.ispartofAnimal Cognition
dc.relation.pages1705-1711
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.sciencecloudnosend
dc.share.typeOTHER
dc.subject.enaposematism
dc.subject.encommon toad
dc.subject.enpredation
dc.subject.entadpoles
dc.subject.enwarning colouration
dc.titleIncreasingly cautious sampling, not the black colouration of unpalatable prey, is used by fish in avoidance learning
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.citation.issue5
oaire.citation.volume26