How sailfish use their bills to capture schooling prey
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How sailfish use their bills to capture schooling prey. / Domenici, P.; Wilson, A.D.M.; Kurvers, R.H.J.M.; Marras, S.; Herbert-Read, J.E.; Steffensen, John Fleng; Krause, S.; Viblanc, P.E.; Couillaud, P.; Krause, J.
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Vol. 281, No. 1784, 2014.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - How sailfish use their bills to capture schooling prey
AU - Domenici, P.
AU - Wilson, A.D.M.
AU - Kurvers, R.H.J.M.
AU - Marras, S.
AU - Herbert-Read, J.E.
AU - Steffensen, John Fleng
AU - Krause, S.
AU - Viblanc, P.E.
AU - Couillaud, P.
AU - Krause, J.
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - The istiophorid family of billfishes is characterized by an extended rostrum or ‘bill’. While various functions (e.g. foraging and hydrodynamic benefits) have been proposed for this structure, until now no study has directly investigated the mechanisms by which billfishes use their rostrum to feed on prey. Here, we present the first unequivocal evidence of how the bill is used by Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) to attack schooling sardines in the open ocean. Using high-speed video-analysis, we show that (i) sailfish manage to insert their bill into sardine schools without eliciting an evasive response and (ii) subsequently use their bill to either tap on individual prey targets or to slash through the school with powerful lateral motions characterized by one of the highest accelerations ever recorded in an aquatic vertebrate. Our results demonstrate that the combination of stealth and rapid motion make the sailfish bill an extremely effective feeding adaptation for capturing schooling prey.
AB - The istiophorid family of billfishes is characterized by an extended rostrum or ‘bill’. While various functions (e.g. foraging and hydrodynamic benefits) have been proposed for this structure, until now no study has directly investigated the mechanisms by which billfishes use their rostrum to feed on prey. Here, we present the first unequivocal evidence of how the bill is used by Atlantic sailfish (Istiophorus albicans) to attack schooling sardines in the open ocean. Using high-speed video-analysis, we show that (i) sailfish manage to insert their bill into sardine schools without eliciting an evasive response and (ii) subsequently use their bill to either tap on individual prey targets or to slash through the school with powerful lateral motions characterized by one of the highest accelerations ever recorded in an aquatic vertebrate. Our results demonstrate that the combination of stealth and rapid motion make the sailfish bill an extremely effective feeding adaptation for capturing schooling prey.
U2 - 10.1098/rspb.2014.0444
DO - 10.1098/rspb.2014.0444
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 24759865
VL - 281
JO - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
JF - Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
SN - 0962-8452
IS - 1784
ER -
ID: 108529363