Multi‐species fish foraging associations during tool use by the graphic tuskfish Choerodon graphicus (De Vis 1885) (Labridae)
2021
Pryor, Kimberley Jane | Milton, Ashley Monique
Multi‐species foraging associations occur when one or more species forage together. However, these associations have not yet been studied during tool use in fishes. Observations were made of the graphic tuskfish Choerodon graphicus (De Vis 1885) in New Caledonia to determine whether other fishes attended it during tool‐use events. A new subtype of attendant associations, "scavenging at anvil", formed during 15 of 16 tool‐use events (94%). Six identifiable attendant families were observed: Acanthuridae (surgeonfishes; 3.7% of total attendant fishes), Balistidae (triggerfishes; 11.9%), Chaetodontidae (butterflyfishes; 9.6%), Labridae (wrasses; 19.3%), Pomacanthidae (angelfishes; 0.7%) and Pomacentridae (damselfishes; 54.8%). Anvil choice significantly influenced the assemblages of attendants (p = 1.982e‐10) but the size of C. graphicus did not (p = .4658). C. graphicus sometimes chased attendants but attendants did not behave aggressively towards C. graphicus or other attendants. C. graphicus appeared to be disadvantaged when attendants distracted it during tool use or scavenged its food. Attendants benefitted when they obtained food they could not otherwise access. Attendants may have responded to visual cues such as appearance, body movements and sand clouds, and auditory cues such as the "clack" sound made when a mollusc was struck on an anvil. Future studies should assess the importance of multi‐species fish foraging associations during tool use to the ecology of coral reefs.
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