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Project properties |
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| Title | Can a conspicuous predator (lionfish) camouflage through background matching? |
| Group | Marine Animal Ecology |
| Project type | thesis |
| Credits | 24-39 |
| Supervisor(s) | Davide Bottacini |
| Examiner(s) | Tinka Murk, Reindert Nijland, Ronald Osinga, Rosa van der Ven, Diede Maas |
| Contact info | davide.bottacini@wur.nl
mae.education@wur.nl |
| Begin date | 2024/02/01 |
| End date | 2025/02/01 |
| Description | Lionfish (Pterois volitans/miles) are among the most effective predators on Earth; they catch up to 85% of the prey that they target. Their success as hunters is due to prey barely reacting when they are approached by a lionfish. How such a conspicuous, flamboyant predator manages to approach prey up to a very close distance without them reacting remains a mystery. Students can join field trips to Crete (Greece), where we are investigating the role of background matching in the predation ecology of lionfish. Experiments are done in the lab, on wild-caught lionfish and their prey.
Three field trips are planned, lasting 7 weeks and starting in March, June and October 2024. Students can join any of the trips for their internship or thesis. |
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