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Prey processing in the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)

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Abstract

We studied prey processing in the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens), involving slow, easily observed head-bobbing movements, which were compared with prey processing in other aquatic feeding vertebrates. We hypothesized that head-bobbing is a unique prey-processing behaviour, which alternatively could be structurally and functionally analogous with raking in basal teleosts, or with pharyngognathy in neoteleosts. Modulation of head-bobbing was elicited by prey with different motility and toughness. Head-bobbing involved sustained mouth occlusion and pronounced cranial elevation, similar to raking. However, the hyoid and pectoral girdle were protracted, and not retracted as in both raking and pharyngognathy. High-speed videofluoroscopy of hyoid movements confirmed that head-bobbing differs from other known aquatic prey-processing behaviours. Nevertheless, head-bobbing and other prey-processing behaviours converge on a recurrent functional theme in the trophic ecology of aquatic feeding vertebrates; the use of intraoral and oropharyngeal dentition surfaces to immobilize, reduce and process relatively large, tough or motile prey. Prey processing outside the pharyngeal region has not been described for neoteleosts previously, but morphological evidence suggests that relatives of Betta might use similar processing behaviours. Thus, our results suggest that pharyngognathy did not out-compete ancestral prey-processing mechanisms completely during the evolution of neoteleosts.

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Abbreviations

am:

Adductor mandibulae muscle

bar :

Branchial arch remainders

bh:

Basihyal

bhh :

Horizontal movement of basihyal

bhv :

Vertical movement of basihyal

bo:

Body

cb:

Ceratobranchial

cbl:

Cleithrobranchial ligament

cv:

Craniovertebral joint

gp:

Mandibular jaw gape expansion

j:

Jaw joint

jp:

Jaw protrusion

l:

Lower jaw

mnc:

Magnitude of cranial elevation

mpg:

Magnitude of pectoral girdle protraction

n:

Neurocranium

nc:

Neurocranial elevation

p:

Pectoral girdle

pb:

Pharyngobranchial

pg:

Pectoral girdle movement

ph:

Protractor hyoideus muscle

ps:

Parasphenoid

r:

Rostrum

sus:

Suspensorium

t 0 :

Time-zero (cranial elevation onset)

TL:

Total length

u:

Upper jaw

v:

Vomer

vpg:

Velocity of pectoral girdle protraction

vnc:

Velocity of neurocranial elevation

μCT:

Micro-computed tomography

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Acknowledgments

We thank A.L. Camp, A. Luu and S. Van Wassenbergh for help with experiments and analyses, and the anonymous reviewers for their comments. All research complied with the current laws of the United States of America and Belgium, and with institutional ethics permits and animal care and use protocols. Work supported by the National Science Foundation IOB#0444891, #0420440 (to C.P.J.S.) and a research grant from the Fund for Scientific Research—Flanders, Belgium (to A.H.).

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  1. Nicolai Konow

    Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI, 02912, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, 11549, USA

    Nicolai Konow, Belma Krijestorac & Christopher P. J. Sanford

  2. Département d’Ecologie et de Gestion de la Biodiversité, UMR 7179 C.N.R.S/M.N.H.N., Case postale 55, 57 rue Cuvier, 75231, Paris Cedex 5, France

    Renauld Boistel & Anthony Herrel

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Correspondence to Nicolai Konow.

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Konow, N., Krijestorac, B., Sanford, C.P.J. et al. Prey processing in the Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens). J Comp Physiol A 199, 641–651 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-013-0819-5

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