The encephalization quotient (QE) are calculated for each species using the allometric equation describing the brain mass to body mass relationship (modified from Lisney & Collin, 2006). The brain metrics can considers "brain areas (the olfactory bulbs, telencephalon, optic tectum, corpus cerebellum and the octavolateralis area)" - Lisney & Collin, 2006) - or the total brain or the spinal chord. Inasmatch QE is defended and criticized by different academicists, even in mammals researches, can we use QE to analyses freshwater fish communities (using the community ecology framework)?
Reference:
Lisney, T. J. and Collin, S. P. (2006), Brain morphology in large pelagic fishes: a comparison between sharks and teleosts. Journal of Fish Biology, 68: 532–554. doi:10.1111/j.0022-1112.2006.00940.x
Supplemenary reference:
Jerison, H. J. (1977), THE THEORY OF ENCEPHALIZATION. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 299: 146–160. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1977.tb41903.x
I think that by comparing fish intelligence is possible to understand why some species are more successful than others (and this hides a mountain of complex questions such as invasions and speciation) in the same environment. And how ecosystem functioning can determines or be determined by this.
For example: considers two species of piscivorous fish co-occuring (regionally)in different ponds connected by a river. There is possibility of movement between the ponds, which had similar environment and fish cimmunity. However, these species do not co-occur locally - hypothetically, these species has the same body size or other measures or even congeners - and one excludes the other, that is, it prevents the co-occurrence of a competitor.
Why?
The response may be behavioral (e.g. aggressiveness or parental care), but may also be the largest number of oocytes per generation, and so on.
But what explains the behavior or reproductive strategy? Was it the amount of intelligence? Would intelligent ones be evolutionarily selected generation-to-generation? Would intelligence be a neglected functional trait in fish ecology?
It is not my only question about this for fish community ecology.
Interesting question. Reminds me of (Huber and Rylander 1992) paper (citation below) where brain morphology (e.g., ofactory and optic lobe size) and turbidity preference was measured for some minnows. Hope this helps!
Huber, Robert, and Michael K. Rylander. "Brain morphology and turbidity preference in Notropis and related genera (Cyprinidae, Teleostei)." Environmental biology of European cyprinids. Springer Netherlands, 1992. 153-166.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Zoology