Fig. 9. Relationship between mean ram distance and mean attack velocity in seven cichlid species feeding on guppies and brine shrimp. Points plotted are the means for each species. Attack velocity was calculated as ram distance divided by time of capture (tcapture; measured from fast mouth opening). Although species differ in tcapture, a significant effect of ram distance on attack velocity for guppy prey (r2=0.76, P=0.011) is caused by variation in ram distance (for brine shrimp, P>0.05). There is no relationship between ram distance and tcapture (P=0.28). Species are as follows: (
) Petenia splendida; (
) Cichla ocellaris; (
) Astronotus ocellatus; (
) Crenicichla geayi; (
) Cichlasoma minckleyi; (dtrif;) Heros severus; (
) Cyprichromis leptosoma. Filled symbols indicate strikes on brine shrimp and open symbols indicate strikes on guppies.
