Orosensory Preferences and Feeding Behavior of Cladistia: A Comparison of Gray Bichir Polypterus senegalus and Saddle Bichir P. endlicherii (Polypteridae)статья
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Аннотация:For the first time, we report that Cladistia have the ability to assess the taste qualities of food
objects and thus have different taste preferences, like Chondrostei and Teleostei studied earlier. Sucrose (0.1 M) has a aversive taste for gray bichir Polypterus senegalus and saddle bichir P. endlicherii, which is consistent with the predation of these species. Calcium chloride (0.1 M) has the same taste properties for both species;
sodium chloride (0.1 M) was aversive for gray bichir only. The taste of citric acid (0.1 M) is attractive to gray bichir, while the saddle bichir is indifferent to it. In P. senegalus, only glutamic acid, out of 21 amino acids tested (L-isomers, 0.1–0.001 M), significantly increases the intake of the flavored pellets, 10 amino acids
reduce intake (the fish response to proline, glutamine, and arginine is the most significant). The remaining 10 amino acids do not affect the intake of pellets. The consumption of pellets with an attractive taste does not depend on the size of the pellets, but decreases with increasing of their hardness. All pellets with water extract of echinoderms (Echinodermata: holothuria Holothuria atra, and starfish species Fromia milleporella, Linckia laevigata, and Culcita novaeguineae) were rejected, which indicates high versatility of natural deterrents. For orosensory testing, bichirs rarely re-grasp pellets of all types, which may be due to the twilight-night type of activity of these fish and their weak vision. Testing pellets by saddle bichir is relatively long (on average, up to 15–22 s); this process is realized according to two different stereotypes, like in other fish species. Consumption is less often preceded by repeated grasping, and the grasped object is held longer than before refusal to swallow.