Transcript of Damselfish Aggression Influenced by Environmental Manipulations Kathryn Chanaberry & Katy Underwood.
- Slide 1
- Damselfish Aggression Influenced by Environmental Manipulations
Kathryn Chanaberry & Katy Underwood
- Slide 2
- Tank B2 Three Striped Damselfish Dasyllus aruanus Blue Devil
Damselfish Chrysiptera cyanea
- Slide 3
- Background Information Commonly referred to as the feistiest of
reef-fish, damselfish are a small, primarily tropical marine fish
of the family Pomacentrid Damselfish have been observed to display
aggressive behavior towards anything that comes between them and
their food. Similarly, damselfish aggressively guard their
territories, spawns, and mates.
- Slide 4
- Background Information These aggressive behaviors include
prey/predator aggression, territory protection, mate and status
protection, spawn protection, and opportunistic feeding behavior
The aggressive behaviors of damselfish are most commonly identified
as chases, nips, approaches, submits, flees, and threats
- Slide 5
- Getting Started What We Knew: Notoriously aggressive Aggression
can be triggered by numerous variables such as feeding, territory,
and status protection All which come in the form of chases, nips,
approaches, submits, flees, and threats
- Slide 6
- Getting Started What We WANTED to Know: 1. Considering that
damselfish are territorial, how would changing the layout of the
tank affect aggression? 2. How does eating encourage aggression
between damselfish? 3. Of the two damselfish in the tank, which
fish is more dominant and does that ever change? (Chrysiptera
cyanea or Dasyllus aruanus) 4. Would adding an extra fish affect
the dominance of the fish or the aggressive behaviors of the fish?
How? 5. What specific variables influence the specific types of
aggression- nipping, chases, flees, threats, submits and
approaches?
- Slide 7
- Hypothesis The aggressive behaviors of damselfish will be
influenced/triggered by environmental manipulation of Tank B2.
- Slide 8
- Review of Wiki
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- Slide 10
- Review of Wiki- Proposal CONT.
- Slide 11
- Review of Wiki- Monthly
- Slide 12
- Review of Wiki
- Slide 13
- Slide 14
- Slide 15
- What causes the specific types of aggression- nipping, chases,
flees, threats, submits and approaches? Observe Define Behavioral
Ethogram
- Slide 16
- What causes the specific types of aggression- nipping, chases,
flees, threats, submits and approaches? After observing the fish
over a short period of time, we were able to come up with our
definitions to describe and categorize the damsels aggressive
behaviors. Nip- Nipping is when a fish gestures a bite toward
another fish. Usually, when a fish nips, first it will demonstrate
some other form of aggression first almost as a warning. For
example: chasing or threats. Threat- A threat is an intimation
method to warn other fish of its aggressive mood or tendencies. A
threat is issued by flaring the gills in front of the other fish.
Approach- An approach is another form of intimidation toward other
fish. It is done at different speeds and angles, depending on the
level of aggression the fish have. Approaches are used to set a
tone of dominance amongst the other fish.
- Slide 17
- What causes the specific types of aggression- nipping, chases,
flees, threats, submits and approaches? After observing the fish
over a short period of time, we were able to come up with our
definitions to describe and categorize the damsels aggressive
behaviors. Flee- A flee is a form of submission to a dominant or
more aggressive damselfish. A flee is when a fish runs away from an
overly aggressive fish. A fish may flee in reaction to a nip,
approach or tail dig. Submit- A submit holds a bit more confidence
than a flee, because it is also a form of submission to aggressive
behavior, however, the fish will stand its ground. This behavior
may occur in reaction to any higher aggressive behaviors. Tail Dig-
A tail dig is a less common term describing the behavior when a
damselfish sweeps its tail in the sand in an upward motion towards
a nearby fish. This behavior is a fairly aggressive one used to
ward off other fish and establish a sense of dominance.
- Slide 18
- What causes the specific types of aggression- nipping, chases,
flees, threats, submits and approaches? Behavioral Ethogram: We
initially wanted to use a behavioral ethogram to record not only
the aggressive behaviors of the fish, but also where the fish were
located in the tank.
- Slide 19
- Troubleshooting We rarely witnessed the damsels display these
behaviors on a daily observation. Ethograms were producing
confusing data that was somewhat irrelevant to the overall goal of
our project (which was more about environmental manipulations
instead of defining aggressive behaviors).
- Slide 20
- Solutions (Project takes a turn for the better!) Combine all of
the behaviors we had defined and categorized them all as aggressive
behavior During observations, instead of asking what type of
aggressive behaviors are happening, we asked ourselves is there any
aggressive behavior & what is provoking it Although we stopped
using the ethograms, we did continue to observe and record the tank
positions of the fish. This helped us take notice of the patterns
of our damsels position in the tankswhich leads us to the major
quantitative and qaulitativedata of our project.
- Slide 21
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Observe damsels positions
and behavior in Tank Layout #1 Remove Left Live Rock Observe
damsels positions and behavior in Tank Layout #2 Remove Right Live
Rock Observe damsels positions and behavior in Tank Layout #3
Compare and Contrast
- Slide 22
- How does eating encourage aggression between damselfish? 1.
Observe feeding behavior during tank layout #1 2. Observe feeding
behavior during tank layout #2 3. Observe feeding behavior during
tank layout #3
- Slide 23
- Slide 24
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Tank Layout #1 Right Live
Rock Center Live Rock Left Live Rock
- Slide 25
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Striped Damsel Blue
Damsel Tank Layout #1
- Slide 26
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Tank Layout #2 Left Live
Rock Center Live Rock Right Live Rock
- Slide 27
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Striped Damsel Blue
Damsel Tank Layout #2
- Slide 28
-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIjrdaLtezo&feature=player_embedded
How does eating encourage aggression between damselfish?
- Slide 29
- Of the two damselfish in the tank, which fish is more dominant
and does that ever change? (Chrysiptera cyanea or Dasyllus aruanus)
Tank Layout #2: Blue Damsels Hurt Tail
- Slide 30
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Tank Layout #3 Right Live
Rock Center Live Rock Left Live Rock Center Live Rock
- Slide 31
- Considering that damselfish are territorial, how would changing
the layout of the tank affect aggression? Striped Damsel Blue
Damsel Tank Layout #3
- Slide 32
- How does eating encourage aggression between damselfish?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHTmIkULSlk&feature=
player_embedded
- Slide 33
- Of the two damselfish in the tank, which fish is more dominant
and does that ever change? (Chrysiptera cyanea or Dasyllus aruanus)
Tank Layout #3: Blue Damsels Tail has healed!
- Slide 34
- Reminder of WHERE Locations are in Tank B2
- Slide 35
- Compiled Data
- Slide 36
- Conclusions As you can see from the data we collected from our
observations and experimentation supports our original hypothesis
that stated: The aggressive behaviors of damselfish will be
influenced/triggered by environmental manipulation of Tank B2.
- Slide 37
- What is the value of our results? Not only has it taught us
more about these fish and influenced our appreciation for their
existence, but it supplements biologists who have researched and
found the same results we have. For example 1. In dominance, the
bigger fish tends to be more dominant 2. Damsels are territorial 3.
Feeding increases aggressive behaviors
- Slide 38
- Bibliography Ebersole, John P. "Niche Separation of Two
Damselfish Species by Aggression And Differential Microhabitat
Utilization." Ecology 66.1 (1985): 14-20.JSTOR. Web. 19 Oct. 2011.
"The Feistiest of Reef Fish-Damselfish." Reef Briefs. San Pedro
Sun, n.d. Web.19 Oct. 2011. Hauter, Stan, and Debbie Hauter.
"Saltwater Aquarium Fish Compatibility."Saltwater Aquariums. About,
n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2011..http://saltaquarium.about.com/ Holbrook,
Sally J, Graham E Forrester, and Russell J Schmitt. "Spatial
Patternsin Abundance of a Damselfish Reflect Availability of
Suitable Habitat."Oecologia 122.1 (2000): 109-120. JSTOR. Web. 19
Oct. 2011..http://www.jstor.org/action/myJstorSettings Myrberg,
Arthur A, Jr. "Social Dominance and Territoriality in the
BicolorDamselfish." Behaviour 41.3/4 (1972): 207-231. JSTOR. Web.
19 Oct. 2011. "Animal Planet :: Fish Guide -- Damselfish." Animal
Planet : Pets, Wild Animals, Dog Breeds, Cat Breeds. N.p., n.d.
Web. 3 Feb. 2012.
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/fish/marine/damselintro.html
http://animal.discovery.com/guides/fish/marine/damselintro.html
"damselfish." Encyclop dia Britannica. Encyclop dia Britannica
Online School Edition. Encyclop dia Britannica, Inc., 2012. Web. 29
Apr. 2012. "perciform." Encyclop dia Britannica. Encyclop dia
Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclop dia Britannica, Inc.,
2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012.
- Slide 39
- For NEXT Year We suggest that whoever chooses tank B2, combine
our two experiments into ONE. Observe the specific aggressive
behaviors in the specific locations of the tank we created. See
what aggressions are triggered WHERE and WHY.