Social signaling via bioluminescent blinks determines nearest neighbor distance in schools of flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron

The schooling flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron can be found at dark nights at the water surface in the Indo-Pacific. Schools are characterized by bioluminescent blink patterns of sub-ocular light organs densely-packed with bioluminescent, symbiotic bacteria. Here we analyzed how blink patterns of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2021-03, Vol.11 (1), p.6431-6431, Article 6431
Main Authors: Jägers, Peter, Wagner, Louisa, Schütz, Robin, Mucke, Maximilian, Senen, Budiono, Limmon, Gino V., Herlitze, Stefan, Hellinger, Jens
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158/856
631/601/18
704/829/826
Anomalops katoptron
Avoidance behavior
Bacteria
Behavior
Bioluminescence
Communication
Flashlights
Frequency dependence
Humanities and Social Sciences
Intraspecific relationships
Light emitting diodes
Motivation
multidisciplinary
Natural environment
Neurosciences
Occlusion
Schools
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Social behavior
Social interactions
Swimming
Visual communication
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The schooling flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron can be found at dark nights at the water surface in the Indo-Pacific. Schools are characterized by bioluminescent blink patterns of sub-ocular light organs densely-packed with bioluminescent, symbiotic bacteria. Here we analyzed how blink patterns of A. katoptron are used in social interactions. We demonstrate that isolated specimen of A. katoptron showed a high motivation to align with fixed or moving artificial light organs in an experimental tank. This intraspecific recognition of A. katoptron is mediated by blinking light and not the body shape. In addition, A. katoptron adjusts its blinking frequencies according to the light intensities. LED pulse frequencies determine the swimming speed and the blink frequency response of A. katoptron , which is modified by light organ occlusion and not exposure. In the natural environment A. katoptron is changing its blink frequencies and nearest neighbor distance in a context specific manner. Blink frequencies are also modified by changes in the occlusion time and are increased from day to night and during avoidance behavior, while group cohesion is higher with increasing blink frequencies. Our results suggest that specific blink patterns in schooling flashlight fish A. katoptron define nearest neighbor distance and determine intraspecific communication.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-021-85770-w