Aquatic ecology and Biodiversity

Unit 8- Animal associations and interactions

8.10. Prey- predator interaction

The prey-predator relationship is a well known relationship in the ocean. “Predators” are hunting animals that capture and kill their “prey”. A convenient starting point in the study of predator prey interactions is to consider the factors influencing the state of predation. One such factor is the abundance of the prey. If the prey is dense, a predator will be able to capture as many as it needs with a minimum of effort and time. If the prey is sparse, the predator will have to seek persistently even to catch only a few.