Learning to hunt: the role of experience in predator success Amelia L. Reid, Frank Seebacher & Ashley J.W. Ward 1) (School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia) (Accepted: 23 August 2009) Summary Animal behaviour is a composite of innate and learned components. During their lifetimes, animals typically gain experience and manifest learning, thereby augmenting or modifying genetically determined, innate behaviour patterns. Following a training period during which predatory fish (jade perch, Scortum barcoo) were allocated to treatments and given experi- ence of either live prey (mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki), freshly killed prey, or cichlid pellets with equal nutritional value, we tested the response of the predators to the prey in an experimental arena. Across all treatments, there was no difference in the number of attacks made by the predators on the prey, however the predators with experience of live fish prey were significantly more successful in capturing prey than those without previous experience of live prey. These results suggest that, in this piscivorous predator, the recognition of prey has an innate component, but that hunting efficiency is increased through experience. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the release of hatchery-reared fish into the wild, the majority of which are predatory. Keywords: fish, predator, prey, foraging, learning. Introduction The behavioural repertoire of many animals is comprised of both innate and learned components. Innate behaviours are ‘hard wired’, genetically pre- determined and often stereotypical responses to predictable stimuli or sit- uations. Learning allows animals to build upon these foundations and to respond to complex, variable or unpredictable situations by modifying their behaviour through experience or reinforcement (Johnston, 1982; Cartwright, 1) Corresponding author’s e-mail address: ashleyjwward@gmail.com © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2010 Behaviour 147, 223-233 DOI:10.1163/000579509X12512871386137 Also available online - www.brill.nl/beh