Bshary, Redouan

2008, Bshary, Redouan, Côté, Isabelle, Magnhagen, Carin, Braithwaite, Victoria, Forsgren, Elisabet, Kapoor, B.G.

2005, Bshary, Redouan, D'Souza, Arun, McGregor, Peter

2008, Krone, R., Bshary, Redouan, Paster, M., Eisinger, M., van Treeck, P., Schuhmacher, H.

The feeding and defecation behaviour of the surgeonfish Ctenochaetus striatus was investigated at Ras Mohammed National Park (South Sinai, Red Sea). The fish feed on coral rock mainly by sweeping loose sediment with their flexible broom like teeth into their mouths. Feeding occurred exclusively on coral rock, but defecation took place only outside the grazing area above sand in small, precisely defined areas.

2002, Bshary, Redouan, Grutter, Alexandra S.

2010, Soares, Marta, Bshary, Redouan, Fusani, Leonida, Goymann, Wolfgang, Hau, Michaela, Hirschenhauser, Katharina, Oliveira, Rui F.

2012, Raihani, Nichola, Grutter, Alexandra S., Wismer, Sharon, Bshary, Redouan

1997, Bshary, Redouan, Noe, Ronald

2008, Cheney, Karen L., Bshary, Redouan, Grutter, Alexandra S.

Mutualisms, in which both participants gain a net benefit, are ubiquitous in all ecosystems, and the importance of understanding their broader ecological context has been demonstrated many times. Indirect effects of mutualisms may have important implications for surrounding ecosystems through changes in density, species composition, or behavior; however, the latter has been difficult to quantify. In fish cleaning mutualisms, cleaners benefit by removing and consuming ectoparasites from clients, whereas clients benefit from a reduction in parasite load. Cleaner fish are also thought to benefit from immunity to predation and use tactile stimulation as a preconflict management strategy to manipulate partners' decisions and to avoid being eaten by piscivorous client fish. Here we show, using a laboratory experiment, that the presence of cleaner fish resulted in nearby fish not involved in the cleaner–client mutualism experiencing less aggression (chases) from predatory clients. In addition, the rate that piscivorous clients chased prey was negatively correlated with the amount of tactile stimulation given to the predator by the cleaner. These data suggest that, in the laboratory, the risk of aggression from predators toward nearby prey fish was greatly reduced as a by-product of cleaner fish presence and tactile stimulation of predators by cleaner fish. These results raise the question of whether cleaning stations act as safe havens from predator aggression.

2008, Krone, R., Bshary, Redouan, Paster, M., Eisinger, M., Von Treck, P., Schuhmacher, H.

2011, van de Waal, Erica, Bshary, Redouan

Social learning is the basis for the formation of traditions in both human and nonhuman animals. Field observations and experiments provide evidence for the existence of traditions in animals but they do not address the underlying social-learning mechanisms. We used an established laboratory experimental paradigm, the artificial fruit design, to test for copying of a sequence of actions and local enhancement in six groups of wild vervet monkeys, Chlorocebus aethiops. We introduced a two-step task where models had to remove a bar to untie a rope that blocked a single door of a box. The models were high-ranking individuals that monopolized the box early on and discovered by trial and error how to open it. We obtained successful models in three groups, while the other three groups acted as controls. After 20 successful demonstrations, we tested subjects with a box that had a rope in the same position but the rope was not functional. Under these conditions, sequential copying of the two-step opening did not occur. Only individuals that were exposed to models were likely to touch the bar if door opening was not immediately successful, providing evidence for local enhancement. When we presented the boxes with the functional rope, we found no effect of having been exposed to a model on the probability that subjects solved the task. We conclude that the social-learning abilities of wild vervet monkeys are relatively limited and discuss potential problems concerning the technical difficulty of the task.