Scientists have discovered an unusual way trumpetfish stalk their prey by using other fish to disguise their deadly movements.
in the journal Current Biology
. “This study provides the first evidence that predators can use other animals as concealment, which not only illustrates the incredible diversity of the ways that animals disguise themselves and their intent, but also broadens our understanding of how predators and prey interact in the wild,” Matchette told me over email.
The team headed to the Caribbean, set up a wire and pulled a hand-painted model of a trumpetfish through the water past damselfish colonies. The experiments took place in three different locations and involved 36 colonies of damselfish. Each colony was exposed to a trumpetfish model, a parrotfish model and a combined trumpetfish and parrotfish pair. Cameras captured each damselfish colony’s response.
When the trumpetfish model was alone, the damselfish took a look at it and then swam away to safety. The team tried this with a parrotfish model to mimic a species the damselfish didn’t find threatening. To test the shadowing behavior, the researchers attached the trumpetfish model to the side of the parrotfish model. The damselfish didn’t sense the danger when the models were combined. This showed the effectiveness of the shadowing action as a hunting disguise.
While the study provides the first evidence of a non-human animal using another as a form of concealment, trumpetfish may not be the only critters that have adopted this behavior.
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