A study on the physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlying the differences in survival capacity between two cyprinid fish species.

A study on the physiological and behavioral mechanisms underlying the differences in survival capacity between two cyprinid fish species. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol. 2019 Jan 28;: Authors: Fu C, Cui YL, Xu JJ, Wang Y, Fu SJ Abstract The crucian carp (Carassius auratus) and common carp (Cyprinus carpio) are close relatives and coexist in most of their natural habitats but with different levels of abundance. The crucian carp is usually more abundant than the common carp in high predation-pressure habitats. To verify whether the crucian carp exhibits a significantly higher survival capacity combined with additional antipredator strategies than the common carp, we measured the morphology, behavioral traits, fast-start escape swimming performance and survival time under predation in both fish species. Additionally, the relationships between morphology, behavioral traits, locomotion and survival in both fish species were analyzed to determine which components can explain survival. We found that the crucian carp showed significantly higher survival times combined with greater body depth and fast-start escape performance than did the common carp, and the fast-start escape performance may be the main reason that the crucian carp showed a higher survival capacity. Additionally, the predator (Channa argus) chased the common carp more frequently when exposed to both species simultaneously. The higher survival capacity of the cruci...
Source: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology. Part A, Molecular and integrative physiology. - Category: Physiology Authors: Tags: Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol Source Type: research