The First (Larval Fish) Olympiad of the Modern Era: Are There "Natural" Athletes within Cohorts of Fish Larvae?

Lee A. Fuiman (Marine Science Institute, University of Texas at Austin, 750 Channel View Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373; 512/749-6775; FAX 512/749-6777; lee@utmsi.utexas.edu)

James H. Cowan, Jr. (Department of Marine Sciences, University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, 36688; 334/861-7535; jcowan@jaguar1.usouthal.edu)

Most recent models of larval fish mortality and recruitment take into account behavioral interactions of larval fishes and their predators and prey. Individual-based models, which allow for variation among individuals within a cohort, have become popular and instructive. The usual source of variation incorporated into individual-based models is stochasticity, independently applied to separate components of the model. However, the presence of correlations and covariations among model components could have a significant impact on modeling results. More importantly, if some individuals perform well in a variety of survival skills, they should be much more likely to survive than other members of the same cohort. We measured the performance of more than 50 red drum larvae in several skills relevant to prey capture and predator evasion in order to determine whether such natural "athletes" exist.

Created: Fri Feb 23 15:12:37 CST 2001