Effects of predation pressure on the cognitive ability of the poeciliid Brachyraphis episcopi

Culum Brown and Victoria A. Braithwaite

Behavioral Ecology, 2005, vol. 16, issue 2, 482-487

Abstract: Variable levels of predation pressure are known to have significant impacts on the evolutionary ecology of different populations and can affect life-history traits, behavior, and morphology. To date, no studies have directly investigated the impact of predation pressure on cognitive ability. Here we use a system of replicate rivers, each with sites of high- and low-predation pressure, to investigate how this ecological variable affects learning ability in a tropical poeciliid, Brachyraphis episcopi. We used a spatial task to assess the cognitive ability of eight populations from four independent streams (four high- and four low-predation populations). The fish were required to locate a foraging patch in one of four compartments by utilizing spatial cues. Fish from areas of low-predation pressure had shorter foraging latencies, entered fewer compartments before discovering the reward patch and navigated more actively within the maze, than fish from high-predation sites. The difference in performance is discussed with reference to forage patch predictability, inter- and intraspecific foraging competition, geographic variation in predation pressure, boldness--shyness traits, and brain lateralization. Copyright 2005.

Keywords: Brachyraphis episcopi; cognition; evolution; poeciliids; predators; prey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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