Nichola Fletcher's research while affiliated with University of Hull and other places

... Our findings reveal that taxonomically diverse prey from multiple trophic levels within this model system detect and respond to the same predation risk cues, supporting the idea that common fear molecules may be capable of influencing other ecological systems through various non-consumptive effects. Furthermore, ragworms may reduce foraging in response to these same cues (Fletcher et al. 2023), potentially providing further evidence for the existence of common fear molecules. The effects of a generalist predator may reduce those of an intermediate predator on basal prey, where the defense of the intermediate prey lowers its own efficacy or contact rate (e.g., by reducing activity) when exploiting the basal prey. ...

... The results implied that bolder prey behavior spurred greater consumption of the basal resource (i.e., macroalga), weakening behaviorally regulated trophic cascades . In contrast, acidification can also lead to a delay in predator's cue avoidance in pool fish (Benitez et al., 2017), snails (Manriquez et al., 2014a;Froehlich and Lord, 2020), crabs (Richardson et al., 2021) and clams . Policymakers have shifted their view from singlespecies-based conservation to a broad view of the structure and function of communities and ecosystems. ...

... The concentration of TTX in the fish body will also depend on season and age [66,76]. Because the level of toxicity of porcupine and pufferfish is environmentally dependent, it has been suspected that the concentration of TTX in Diodontidae and Tetraodontidae could be higher with higher temperatures and at higher sea-level stands [61,77], a condition partly met on Ilin Island when early fishers were bringing these fish back to the Bubog rock shelters and Bilat Cave [24], between 7000 to 4000 BP during the Holocene climatic optimum, when the sea level was at its highest [78]. However, this must be treated circumspectly, as while Vibrio development is strongly correlated with high temperatures [79], at present there is no reason to suspect that the concentration of TTX 13,000 years ago in the Philippines when the first consumption of toxic fish is first registered was different from the present conditions. ...

... Nonetheless, their feeding performance (e.g., movement speed, managing the prey, etc.) can be decreased by the potential deafferentation of their sensors and the turbulence of the water [112,113]. Moreover, studies on the green crab (Carcinus maenas) have shown that there is a significant seasonality effect affecting the appetite and feeding responses of male and female crabs, especially during the reproductive season in order to reduce the cannibalistic tendency of the species [114,115]. Additionally, climatic changes in the environmental conditions (such as global warming, CO 2 concentrations, turbidity, acidification, etc.) have been shown to influence the foraging and feeding behavior of various crab species [116,117]. In terms of blue crabs, the species are known to quickly run toward the discovered odor plume and when the concentration of the odor exceeds a specific threshold at the chemoreceptors, they tend to move toward the direction of the flow [118,119]. ...

... For many decapod crustaceans females moult prior to mating. Due to this cooccurrence, efforts have been made to identify chemical cues released by moulting adult females and find pheromones triggering male courtship behaviours in crabs 2,3,33 . These studies found males demonstrating courtship behaviours, such as shelter sharing, prior to female moult. ...

... To analyze the response times in both conditions, a gamma family generalized linear model with a two-parameter distribution was used as this is an appropriate test for non-parametric, time-series data when the variance is proportional to the mean squared [41]. Crab size was controlled for, as bigger males may be physically more fit and able to compete for females against smaller males, and therefore may be more likely to respond to a female cue [42]. Time of day was also controlled for, as trials were not conducted at the same time each day and the differences in light levels or other factors may have influenced the response rates of the crabs. ...

... In general, females might prefer non-virgin males because of the potential advantages of mating with a sexually experienced partner that can provide females with better resources. For example, in the nereidid polychaete Neanthes acuminata, females prefer males with a more extensive mating history as experienced males were better fathers (Fletcher et al. 2009). Also, while virgin males might be more invested in their mating effort, experienced males are often more successful in mating (Aich et al. 2021). ...