Abstract
In coral reef communities, sea urchins and reef fish have a variety of commensal relationships. However, if fish view urchins as a potential form of predator protection, then urchin presence should influence reef fish risk assessment. We investigated whether dusky damselfish (Stegastes nigricans) perceive burrowing urchins (Echinometra mathaei) as a form of predator protection by asking whether and how urchin presence explains variation in flight initiation distance, the distance a fish fled an approaching threat. We found that when individuals were subjected to a high-risk approach (i.e., one that started relatively close to the fish), and urchin density was high, dusky damselfish tolerated a closer approach than when subjected to high risk with low urchin density. However, when there was low risk and high urchin density, the damselfish fled sooner. We conclude that under high risk, damselfish perceive burrowing urchins as providing added security from approaching threats.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the staff of UC Berkeley Richard Gump South Pacific Research Station for housing and logistical support and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology for partial support. Research was conducted under permits issued by the Government of French Polynesia (permit approved on 21 November 2019). Dusky damselfish were studied under University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) IACUC Protocol 2001-147-62B (4 November 2019).
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Cheh, A., Fadaee, N., Kalhori, P. et al. Love thy prickly neighbor? Sea urchin density affects risk assessment in damselfish. Coral Reefs 40, 21–25 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02035-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-020-02035-0