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I am broadly interested in foraging and sensory behavior.
Relevant questions that drive my research include:
I am broadly interested in foraging and sensory behavior.
Relevant questions that drive my research include:
"What modes of sensory information span ecosystems??"
"What modes of sensory information span ecosystems??"
"How is foraging behavior reflected in sensory morphology?"
"How is foraging behavior reflected in sensory morphology?"
"How does a critter detect and locate food in complex habitats?"
"How does a critter detect and locate food in complex habitats?"
"How do foraging tactics change with the spatial environment?"
"How do foraging tactics change with the spatial environment?"
Sensory Stimuli that Span Ecosystems:
The water to land transition in early vertebrates posed many physiological challenges for our amphibious ancestors. I am interested in how sensory systems and stimuli facilitate behaviors between water and land.
Which types of stimuli can be used across physically distinct media (water vs. air)? Do amphibious fishes switch primary sensory modalities when switching habitats?
"What modes of sensory information span ecosystems??"
"What modes of sensory information span ecosystems??"
"How is foraging behavior reflected in sensory morphology?"
"How is foraging behavior reflected in sensory morphology?"
"Chemical cues facilitate foraging across the water-land interface in a resident predatory fish" - Manuscript In Review at Behavioral Ecology
Some moray species are amphibious, and can move within the exposed intertidal to forage! What sensory information is bringing them out of the water and onto the rocks?
On Santa Catalina Island, I and a crew of undergraduate students injected chemical stimuli from different prey species into a target positioned either underwater or above water. We found that chemical information (odor and/or taste) readily attracts morays underwater. When administered above water, the cue was able to span the land-sea boundary and lead morays to the target on land!
Two morays out of the water, investigating our target!
"Comparative morphology of sensory structures in muraenids" - In Progress
In the lab, I examine skull morphology across 43 different species of moray. These species differ in diet, hunting mode, and amphibious status. I am measuring orbital landmarks to determine if changes in visual capacity is correlated with amphibious behavior (or diet).
Moray skull, looking pretty in pink!
Sensory Stimuli throughout the Foraging Sequence:
The nearshore rocky reef and kelp forest habitats off Santa Catalina Island are spatially complex. High algal cover, large boulders, and tight crevices means that prey could be hiding anywhere! How does a hungry fish detect, locate, and capture prey? What kinds of sensory information are important for each of these foraging phases?
"How does a critter detect and locate food in complex habitats?
"How does a critter detect and locate food in complex habitats?
"Multimodal sense use during foraging of two predatory kelp forest fishes"
- In Prep
Foraging is a scaffolded sequence of behaviors. Predators have to detect, locate, and then capture prey. Each of these phases is mediated by the senses! On Santa Catalina Island we measured whether two trophically similar piscivores (California moray and the kelp bass) relied on the same types of information to complete each of these phases! We deployed an apparatus to test visual cues (prey shape and prey movement) and chemical cues (odor and taste) in both tandem and isolation. We found that each predator requires a unique combination of stimuli to complete a full foraging sequence.
Moray eel investigating our moving fish model
Kelp bass attempting to eat the fish model
"Using behavior, morphology, and neural anatomy to catalog sensory modalities of rocky reef fishes "
- In Prep
The sensory landscape of the marine environment is understudied, yet factors like water temperature, pH, and turbidity directly impact how information is received by resident fishes. For most marine species, we lack foundational data related to the important sensory modalities that facilitate behavior. This knowledge gap prevents us from predicting how changing environments can impact behavior. In the diverse fish community off Santa Catalina Island, I observe how sensory information is used to detect prey and then use museum specimens to document morphometrics of sensory structures. Lastly, I connect these observed behaviors and structures to the internal processing center (brain) to document important sensory modalities for each species.
Behavior! Using Baited Underwater Remote Video (BRUVS) to document sensitivity to prey stimuli
External Morphology - using museum specimens to measure eye morphometrics
Neural Anatomy - With the help of the Natural History Museum of LA Country, I will be able to visualize the brain "processing power" for different modalities
How do morays forage within tight, spatially constraining rocky reef crevices?
Morays are crevice specialists! Their long bodies with reduced fins allow them to access prey that are hiding within tight crevices...but how do they extract the prey or manipulate it for swallowing when they are deep within a crevice?
"How do foraging tactics change with the spatial environment?"
"How do foraging tactics change with the spatial environment?"
"The influence of spatial context on prey manipulation behaviors in the California moray eel (Gymnothorax mordax) - Linked here
Moray eels have a diverse repertoire of documented prey manipulation behaviors. After biting, they can laterally shake to dislodge prey or longitudinally rotate (crocodile-death-roll-style). And. AND. They can even tie themselves into knots to apply leverage to extract prey from a crevice.
I mentored undergraduate Liliana Pruett on this project where we determined that knotting is prevented by crevices smaller than 1.5x the diameter of the eel. As crevice size decreased, rotating became more common. We also documented novel behaviors where morays use their bodies to laterally brace themselves within the crevice, or generate pull forces using their tail wrapped around a fixed point. This work resulted in a journal article (linked above), co-authored by Lili.
A knotted eel in a transparent crevice.
"The California Moray (Gymnothorax mordax) uses its body and the environment for leverage during feeding."
- In Review at Environmental Biology of Fishes
After observing the knotting, bracing, and tail anchoring, I mentored a team of undergraduate students (August, Sacha, and Avery) to fully describe how the elongate body plan is used to perform these behaviors. August documented three distinct types of knots. We also observed that when morays use their tail as an anchor point, they most often use the region posterior to the cloaca; and when internally bracing within the crevice, they most often employ two distinct bracing points following a standard waveform to maximize frictional opposition.
Internal bracing points (pink) and a terminal anchor (yellow)
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