Collaborative Research+RUI: The Effects of Water Movement and Zooplankton Escape Behavior on Planktivory by Coral Reef Fishes in Different Microhabitats

本研究将探讨水运动对生活在珊瑚骨骼中并受边界层效应影响的小鱼捕获浮游动物的影响。特别关注的是两种涡虫（涡虫科）所占据的微栖息地中水的运动是如何不同的，以及它在多大程度上影响了这些物种对微栖息地的选择。这个问题将从两个角度来探讨：(1)水运动在向鱼传递猎物中的作用；(2)水运动在确定猎物对鱼攻击的脆弱性方面的作用。将在鱼类生活的珊瑚礁上以不同的尺度测量水的运动，并在实验室中根据实地观察到的水运动的模式和速率研究猎物的捕获。这两种鱼类已经被证明生活在同一珊瑚礁区不同的微栖息地，有不同的代谢率，以不同的速度攻击猎物，有不同的饮食。它们捕获猎物的成功程度随水运动程度的不同而不同，水运动对不同猎物类型的影响在方向和程度上也不同。最引人注目的是，某些对捕食者信号有异常快速反应的鱿鱼类桡足类动物，在不断增加的水湍流中变得更加脆弱。这被认为是小白蛉成功进食的关键，也决定了它们在珊瑚礁上的位置。将在珊瑚礁上测量水的运动，以确定发现双翅虫的区域的一般情况，并在每个物种的摄食量内描述水的运动特征。还将确定珊瑚礁表面以上的水运动的垂直剖面，以与两种鱼类的不同垂直分布相关联。将建造一个水槽，使其能够产生振荡的水运动，其幅度和周期与观察到的水运动相一致。Blennies将在不同的水运动机制下进食一系列猎物，它们的摄取量和捕获成功将通过标准速度录像来测量。高吗?速度录像，捕食模式和猎物的逃跑反应将被确定。另外，高？高速摄像，配合标准小？尺度水动力扰动，将被用来测试在湍流水平增加的情况下，鱿鱼类桡足类动物的逃逸反应。由于野外和实验室工作的独特融合以及在各种水动力条件下捕食者和猎物反应的精确记录，这项研究将对我们理解桡足类如何避开捕食者，鱼类如何捕获猎物以及这如何影响鱼类的栖息地选择做出重大贡献。这些信息将使我们深入了解珊瑚礁退化的一些不可预见的后果。这个项目也有重要的教育影响。四到六名本科生将体验手？在实验室和实地研究上还有一点人文和艺术？以文理学院为导向的文理学院将与两个研究机构合作，以提高学院科学的知名度。预计这将增加正在进行的努力，以提高科学在学院的教育产品中的作用。

This study will investigate the effects of water movement on the capture of zooplankton by small fish that live embedded in coral skeletons and are subject to boundary layer effects. The particular focus is on how water movement differs in the microhabitats occupied by two species of blenny (family Chaenopsidae) and the extent to which it affects microhabitat choice by those species. The problem will be approached from two perspectives: (1) the role of water movement in delivering prey to the fish and (2) the role of water movement in determining prey vulnerability to attacks by fish. Water movement will be measured at different scales on reefs where the fish live and, in the laboratory, prey capture will be studied under the patterns and rates of water movement observed in the field.The two fish species have already been shown to live in different microhabitats in the same reef zones, have different metabolic rates, attack prey at different speeds, and have different diets. Their prey capture success varies with degree of water movement and the influence of water movement is different in direction and magnitude for different prey types. Most strikingly, certain calanoid copepods that have exceptionally fast response times to predator signals become more vulnerable with increasing water turbulence. This is believed to be the key to feeding success in blennies and determines where they are located on the reef.Water movement will be measured on a coral reef to determine general conditions in the zones where the blennies are found and to characterize water movement within the feeding volumes of each species. Vertical profiles will also be determined for water movement above the reef surface to correlate with the different vertical distributions of the two fishes. A flow tank will be built with the capacity to generate oscillating water movement of the magnitudes and periodicities observed where the blennies live. Blennies will be fed a range of prey under varying water movement regimes and their feeding volumes and capture success will be measured with the aid of standard speed videography. With high?speed videography, patterns of feeding strikes and escape responses of prey will be determined. In addition, high?speed videography, in conjunction with standard small?scale hydrodynamic disturbances, will be used to test the escape responses of calanoid copepods in the presence of increasing levels of turbulence.Because of the unique melding of field and laboratory work and the precise recording of predator and prey responses under various hydrodynamic conditions, this study will be a significant contribution to our understanding of how copepods avoid their predators, how fish capture their prey, and how this affects habitat choice by fish. This information will give us insight into some unforeseen consequences of coral reef degradation. This project also has important educational impacts. Four to six undergraduate students will experience hands?on laboratory and field research and a small humanities and arts?oriented liberal arts college will collaborate with two research institutes in a way that will enhance the visibility of the sciences at the college. This is expected to add to the ongoing effort to increase the role of science in the educational offerings of the college.