Department of Natural Resource Management, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA.
J Fish Biol. 2012 Jan;80(1):49-60. doi: 10.1111/j.1095-8649.2011.03140.x. Epub 2011 Nov 22.
Juvenile common carp Cyprinus carpio were collected from 10 lakes with variable predator abundance over 4 months to evaluate if morphological defences increased with increasing predation risk. Cyprinus carpio dorsal and pectoral spines were longer and body depth was deeper when predators were more abundant, with differences becoming more pronounced from July to October. To determine if morphological plasticity successfully reduced predation risk, prey selection of largemouth bass Micropterus salmoides foraging on deep- and shallow-bodied C. carpio was evaluated in open and vegetated environments. Predators typically selected deep- over shallow-bodied phenotypes in open habitats and neutrally selected both phenotypes in vegetated habitats. When exposed to predators, shallow-bodied C. carpio phenotypes shoaled in open habitat, whereas deep-bodied phenotypes occupied vegetation. Although deep-bodied phenotypes required additional handling time, shallow-bodied phenotypes were more difficult to capture. These results suggest that juvenile C. carpio gradually develop deeper bodies and larger spines as predation risk increases. Morphological defences made it more difficult for predators to consume these prey but resulted in higher vulnerability to predation in some instances.
从 10 个具有不同捕食者丰度的湖泊中收集幼年鲤鱼（Cyprinus carpio），以评估形态防御是否随捕食风险的增加而增加。当捕食者更丰富时，鲤鱼的背鳍和胸鳍刺更长，身体深度更深，从 7 月到 10 月差异变得更加明显。为了确定形态可塑性是否成功降低了捕食风险，评估了在开阔和植被环境中捕食者大口黑鲈（Micropterus salmoides）对深体和浅体鲤鱼的猎物选择。在开阔栖息地，捕食者通常选择深体而不是浅体表型，而在植被栖息地则对两种表型中性选择。当暴露于捕食者时，浅体鲤鱼在开阔栖息地聚集，而深体表型则占据植被。尽管深体表型需要额外的处理时间，但浅体表型更难捕捉。这些结果表明，随着捕食风险的增加，幼年鲤鱼逐渐发育出更深的身体和更大的刺。形态防御使捕食者更难捕食这些猎物，但在某些情况下会导致更高的捕食脆弱性。
