DOI: 10.5061/dryad.rfj6q577x
title: Fish avoid visually noisy environments where prey targeting is reduced

description: The environment contains different forms of ecological no­­­ise that can
 reduce the ability of animals to detect information. Here we ask whether
 animals adapt their behaviour to either exploit or avoid areas of their
 environment with increased dynamic visual noise. Three-spined sticklebacks
 (Gasterosteus aculeatus) were immersed into environments with a simulated
 form of naturally occurring visual noise – moving light bands that form on
 underwater substrates caused by the refraction of light through surface
 waves. We tested whether this form of visual noise affected fish’s habitat
 selection, movements, and prey-targeting behaviour. Fish avoided areas of
 the environment with increased visual noise, and achieved this by
 increasing their activity as a function of the locally perceived noise
 level. Fish were less likely to respond to virtual prey in environments
 with increased visual noise, highlighting a potential impact that visual
 noise has on their perceptual abilities. Fish did not increase or decrease
 their refuge use in environments with increased visual noise, providing no
 evidence that visual noise either increased exploratory, or, risk aversive
 behaviour. Our results indicate that animals can use simple behavioural
 strategies to avoid visually noisy environments, thereby mitigating the
 impacts these environments appear to have on their perceptual abilities.
   
description: Sheet 1 labelled 'Choice' - contains the data from the
 choice experiment. Each row in the data gives one choice (out of 15) that
 the fish was given in each of 48 trials. Column 1 gives the trial number,
 column 2 is the day of the trial out of 10, column 3 is the noise level on
 the left of the arena, column 4 is the noise level on the right of the
 arena, column 5 is the difference in noise between these two sides (so a
 noise level of 3 on the left and a noise of 2 on the right would give a
 difference of 1). Column 6 shows which is the noisier side of the arena
 with '1' meaning the left is the noisier side and '0'
 meaning the right side is the noisier side. Column 7 is which of the 6
 playbacks was used for that trial, column 8 is the temperature in celsius
 of the arena at the start of the trial, column 9 gives the time the trial
 was started given in hours after 6am, column 10 is the order of the trial
 within the current day, column 11 is the number of choice within the trial
 (between 1 and 15), column 12 is the noise on the noisiest side of the
 arena, column 13 is the noise on the slower side of the arena (information
 taken from columns 3,4 and 6). Column 14 is the fish's speed when on
 the fast side of the arena for that choice and column 15 is the
 fish's speed when on the slow side of the arena for that choice.
 Column 16 is the proportion of time that fish spent stationary when on the
 more noisy side of the arena for that choice and column 17 is the
 proportion of time the fish spent stationary when on the less noisy side
 of the arena. Finally column 18 is the proportion of time the fish spent
 on the noisier side and column 19 is the proportion of time the fish spent
 on the less noisy side of the arena. Sheet 2 labelled
 'Refuge' - contains the data from the refuge experiment. The
 data is showing the amount of time in seconds that the fish spent in a
 refuge for each of six levels of noise in each of 48 trials. Column 1
 gives the trial number, column 2 gives the number of seconds (with a
 maximum of 320) that the fish spent in the shelter for each noise level
 within the trial, column 3 gives the order that the noise level was
 presented within the trial (between 1 and 6), column 4 is the noise level
 the fish was currently experiencing at that time in the trial (between 1
 and 6 with 6 being the highest level of noise), column 5 is which of the 6
 playbacks was used for that trial, column 6 shows the day of the trial
 (between 1 and 6), column 7 gives the time the trial was started given in
 hours after 6am, column 8 is the order the trial was done in the day
 (between 1 and 8) and column 9 is the is the temperature of the water in
 the test arena when the trial was started. Sheet 3
 labelled 'Virtual Prey' - contains the data from the virtual
 prey experiment. Each row in the data shows the number of detections for
 each of 6 levels of noise in each of 108 trials. Column 1 is the level of
 noise the fish was currently experiencing at that time in the trial
 (between 1 and 6 with 6 being the highest level of noise), column 2 gives
 the number of detections for that level of noise in the trial, column 3
 gives the trial number out of 115, column 4 gives the day of the trial
 (between 1 and 20), column 5 is the time the trial was started given in
 hours after 6am,  column 6 is the temperature of the water in the test
 arena when the trial was started, column 7 is which of the 6 playbacks was
 used for that trial, column 8 gives the order the trial was done in the
 day and column 9 gives the time of the noise level within the trial
 (between 1 and 6).