Nocturnal Feeding in the Marine Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus Aculeatus L.): Modulation by Chemical Stimulation

Contrary to previous understanding, sticklebacks in our laboratory were observed, with night vision goggles, feeding on live brine shrimp in total darkness. The response was greatly enhanced by pre-feeding stimulation with water that had previously held brine shrimp. The response pattern elicited by the brine shrimp water was characteristic of feeding responses directed toward benthic organisms rather than a pelagic crustacean such as the brine shrimp. This suggests a general, non-prey specific feeding activation function for the chemical-olfactory cues used in this study.