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Vigilance And Antipredator Responses Of Caribbean Reef Squid, Jennifer A. Mather
Vigilance And Antipredator Responses Of Caribbean Reef Squid, Jennifer A. Mather
Sentience Collection
Antipredator responses, especially those of open-ocean squid, have been seldom studied in the natural environment. Sepioteuthis sepioidea, observed by snorkellers near the shore in early morning/late afternoon, produced an average of eight moves of over 1m per hour, apparently mostly antipredator behaviours. Close approaches by herbivorous parrotfish elicited no response in 74% of encounters; otherwise, squid produced agonistic zebra stripes or startle-mantle-dots skin patterns. Predatory bar jack fish caused flight but not zebra displays, and squid usually paled and fled quickly (66%) from snapper. The speed of approach was the best predictor for flight and display responses to snapper, …