Title: Bathypterois Category: Biology Subcategory: Difficulty: Unknown Year 2004 Bowl: Shore Bowl Author: C. Grant Law Contact info: ext 310 IMCS, Rutgers University 71 Dudley Rd. New Brunswick, NJ 08901

QUESTION Round:Time: 3 minutesStandard/Category: Biology QUESTION: Early interpretations of the tripod fish’s long anal and caudal fins suggested they may be used to probe sediments in search of food. However, submersible pilots rarely see them move, so this could never be confirmed. Invariably, tripod fish are seen sitting on the bottom facing into the current, with their long fins spread wide like sails. Deep-sea biologists now think that tripod-fish are ambush predators. 1)What evidence for an ambush predator lifestyle is displayed in this photograph? (4 answers, 3 points each) 2) Why is it unlikely that the tripod-fish uses its long fins to search the substrate for food? (2 answers, 4 points each)

ANSWER Round:Time: 2 minutesStandard/Category: Biology QUESTION/ANSWERS: 1)What evidence for an ambush predator lifestyle is displayed in this photograph? ANSWER:- Facing into the current, the direction from which prey items will most likely come from. (3 points) - Extended pectoral fins and whisker-like spines would function well to sense if a prey item is near. (3 points) - They appear to sit still and conserve energy, a characteristic behavior of ambush predators. (3 points) - The stilt-like fins lift the tripod fish up off the sea floor into faster currents, increasing the possibility that a prey item will sweep near its mouth. (3 points) 2)Why is it unlikely that the tripod-fish uses its long fins to search the substrate for food? ANSWER:- If tripod fish were mud-foragers, they would need to spend most of their time exploring the sediment for their sparsely distributed prey. But they instead seem to spend the majority of their time sitting still. (4 points) - Even if the tripod fish found a prey item deeply buried in the mud, it does not appear to possess any means of digging it out. If it tried, its long fins would surely prove a handicap. (4 points) HHeezen, BC and Hollister, CD The Face of the Deep. Oxford University Press. (fig. 3.7)