Water shrews detect movement, shape, and smell to find prey underwater

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Kenneth C CataniaKevin L Campbell

Abstract

American water shrews (Sorex palustris) are aggressive predators that feed on a variety of terrestrial and aquatic prey. They often forage at night, diving into streams and ponds in search of food. We investigated how shrews locate submerged prey using high-speed videography, infrared lighting, and stimuli designed to mimic prey. Shrews attacked brief water movements, indicating motion is an important cue used to detect active or escaping prey. They also bit, retrieved, and attempted to eat model fish made of silicone in preference to other silicone objects showing that tactile cues are important in the absence of movement. In addition, water shrews preferentially sniffed model prey fish and crickets underwater by exhaling and reinhaling air through the nostrils, suggesting olfaction plays an important role in aquatic foraging. The possibility of echolocation, sonar, or electroreception was investigated by testing for ultrasonic and audible calls above and below water and by presenting electric fields to foraging shrews. We found no evidence for these abilities. We conclude that water shrews detect motion, shape, and smell to find prey underwater. The short latency of attacks to water movements suggests shrews may use a flush-p...Continue Reading

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Citations

Feb 12, 2013·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Kenneth C Catania
Sep 18, 2013·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Sirpa NummelaTom Reuter
Jun 7, 2008·Chemical Senses·Daniel W WessonMatt Wachowiak
Jun 19, 2009·Biology Letters·Björn M SiemersSophie von Merten
Oct 5, 2011·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Michael BrechtClaudia Roth-Alpermann
Oct 24, 2013·Doklady Biological Sciences : Proceedings of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Biological Sciences Sections·Yu F IvlevO S Luchkina
Jun 12, 2013·PloS One·Kenneth C CataniaDuncan B Leitch
Jan 3, 2012·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·Kenneth C Catania
Dec 20, 2016·Integrative Zoology·Aleksandra A PanyutinaIrina B Soldatova
Sep 2, 2014·Scientific Reports·Duncan B LeitchKenneth C Catania
Oct 12, 2011·Brain, Behavior and Evolution·Duncan B LeitchKenneth C Catania
Mar 20, 2009·Journal of Experimental Zoology. Part A, Ecological Genetics and Physiology·Allyson G HindleMarkus Horning
May 25, 2012·Nature·Nicholas D PyensonRobert E Shadwick
Jan 19, 2012·The Journal of Comparative Neurology·R K NaumannM Brecht
Apr 8, 2020·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Quentin MartinezPierre-Henri Fabre
Aug 23, 2020·Nature Communications·Clara H Ferreira, Marta A Moita
Apr 20, 2020·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Wolf HankeGuido Dehnhardt
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Jul 20, 2010·The Journal of Experimental Biology·Wolf HankeGuido Dehnhardt
Jan 21, 2010·The Journal of Experimental Biology·K C CataniaD Gauthier
Oct 14, 2021·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Sam J England, Daniel Robert

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