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Female Crucian Carp, Carassius carassius, Lose Predator Avoidance Behavior when Getting Ready to Mate

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Abstract

In predator–prey interactions, the prey often have to compromise fitness-related behaviors such as feeding, courting, and territorial defense in order to avoid predators. In these trade-off situations, some behaviors have priority over others. These priorities are not rigid, and may be context-dependent; for instance, many animals show increased risk-taking during courtship behavior by paying less attention to potential predators. We investigated whether the fright reaction, a stereotypical avoidance response to olfactory cues from injured conspecifics, may be affected by reproductive status in a teleost fish, the crucian carp. We demonstrate that among individuals not responding to alarm substances with a fright reaction, the majority were ovulated or spermiated. In females, mean plasma concentrations of 17β-estradiol and testosterone, gonadal steroids known to decrease during the later stages of sexual maturation, were lower in the individuals not responding with a fright reaction compared to those responding. In males, there were no differences between responsive and non-responsive individuals in mean plasma levels of androgens (testosterone and 11-ketotestosterone) involved in spermatogenesis and male sexual behavior. As the fright reaction in crucian carp consists of behavior incompatible with spawning behavior, we hypothesize that this short-term suppression of the alarm response has evolved so that spawning can occur uninterrupted.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Norwegian Research Council (grants 159213/V40 and 172609/S40).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Oslo, P.O. Box. 1041, Blindern, 0316, Oslo, Norway

    Stine Lastein & Kjell B. Døving

  2. Department of Marine Ecology and Aquaculture, Danish Institute for Fisheries Research, Technical University of Denmark, North Sea Center, P.O. box 101, 9850, Hirtshals, Denmark

    Erik Höglund

  3. Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, P.O. Box 8146 Dep., 0033, Oslo, Norway

    Ian Mayer

  4. Department of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, P.O. Box 5003, 1432, Ås, Norway

    Øyvind Øverli

Authors
  1. Stine Lastein
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  2. Erik Höglund
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  3. Ian Mayer
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  4. Øyvind Øverli
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  5. Kjell B. Døving
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Correspondence to Stine Lastein.

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Lastein, S., Höglund, E., Mayer, I. et al. Female Crucian Carp, Carassius carassius, Lose Predator Avoidance Behavior when Getting Ready to Mate. J Chem Ecol 34, 1487–1491 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-008-9553-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10886-008-9553-9

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