title: Seeing orange: prawns tap into a pre-existing sensory bias of the Trinidadian guppy.
abstract: Sensory bias, a predisposition towards certain signals, has been implicated in the origin of mate preferences in some species. A risk associated with these biases is that they can be co-opted by predators as sensory lures. Here we propose that the orange spots on the brown pincers of a diurnal, predatory species of prawn function as lures for Trinidadian guppies, which have a sensory bias for orange. We exposed female guppies to (i) a life-like model of this Trinidadian prawn with orange, green or no spots on the pincers or (ii) a live, novel (non-Trinidadian) crustacean (crayfish), also with spotted pincers. First, we provide evidence that guppies sympatric with the prawn recognized our model as a potential predator. Next, we found that guppies spent more time in the dangerous head region of the model prawn with orange-spotted pincers compared with unspotted pincers. Finally, we show that allopatric, but not sympatric, guppies spent more time in the vicinity of the head of a live crayfish when orange spots were added to its pincers than when brown spots were added. Our results suggest that the orange spots on prawn pincers can act as a sensory lure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada, M5S 3G5.
authors.forename: Alexandra R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: De Serrano
authors.forename: Cameron J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Weadick
authors.forename: Anna C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: F Helen
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Rodd
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D033364:Decapoda / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D052586:Mating Preference, Animal; D010858:Pigmentation; D011036:Poecilia / Q000502:physiology*; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D012726:Sexual Behavior, Animal; D014300:Trinidad and Tobago