Cost/Benefit Analysis of Anguillid Foraging Mode
{'Code': '08010207', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'DEB', 'LongName': 'Division Of Environmental Biology'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Althea Ball', 'PO_EMAI': 'aball@nsf.gov', 'PO_PHON': '7032920000'}
Do animals forage in an "optimal" manner, one thatrepresents            an evolved response in terms of the amount of energyspent                       compared to the amount of energy gained?  Research hasgenerally                 focused on what animals eat, where they feed, and howthey decide                to switch between food types or feeding locales.  Anoverlooked                  and common feature of feeding involves animals thathave different               ways of acquiring prey, such as different huntingtactics.  An                   unanswered question is whether animals switchbetween feeding                    tactics in ways we would predict based onenergetic                              considerations.  American eels either feed by suction,by grasping               food and shaking to tear off a piece, or by graspingand spinning                to tear off a piece.  Hypotheses to be testedconcern whether                    switching among these three modes represents adecision.making                   process that maximizes energetic intake whileminimizing energetic               expense and costs associated with attractingpredators.                                  Results of this study will have broad application to areasof            behavioral and ecological research, particularly those thatfocus                on trade.offs and cost/benefit analyses of ecologicalactivities.                Data will be useful to theoretical ecologistsinterested in                      decision rules and processes in animal behavior,and will aid in                 understanding the energetics of switching amongalternative                      foraging modes.  Results will also provide insightinto selection                pressures influencing the convergent evolutionthat occurs among                 the more than 60 different families of largelyunrelated, eel.like               fishes, amphibians, and reptiles.  The datawill also greatly                    increase our understanding of the feedingbehavior of the American               eel, an abundant, commercially important(approx. 5,000,000                      annually), predatory fish species that occursin most freshwater                 and estuarine habitats draining into theAtlantic Ocean and Gulf                 of Mexico.
{'FirstName': 'Gene', 'LastName': 'Helfman', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'S', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Gene S Helfman', 'EmailAddress': None, 'NSF_ID': '000454789', 'StartDate': '09/01/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
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{'Code': '1127', 'Text': 'Evolutionary Processes'}
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