Below is actual footage from a few of our foraging trials that show Siscowet Lake Trout foraging for Golden Shiners. We analyze the footage looking for a set of foraging parameters or behaviors to determine how Siscowet manage to forage for prey at varying light intensities.
Video 1 shows the initiation of a trial with the lifting of the foraging arena gate that separates predator and prey. Trials last 10 mins or until prey is consumed.
Video 2 breaks down the foraging parameters that we look for while analyzing footage. A couple parameters we examine are reaction distance and angle of attack, We also look at whether trout capture prey and the time to capture.
Video 3 Siscowet lake trout are able to sense their prey via mechanosensory detection (lateral line) in the dark. This video shows how the trout are able to detect and follow their prey, but rarely capture prey in absolute darkness.
Video 4 The siscowet lake trout is able to detect prey movements within half the total length of its body. We see here that the siscowet does not detect the prey until it is within half a body length, and then quickly loses the prey when out of range. Trial in absolute darkness (0 lux).
