Table 1.

Average parameters taken from video footage, grouped by fish age class in days post-hatch (dph). Symbols for each parameter are referenced in the model details. Value n indicates the sample size of values. Age classes are those identified by Wittenrich & Turingan [37] based on morphology and predatory effectiveness as confirmed by Jackson & Lenz [38] and Robinson et al. [9].

parameter	symbol	units	model value	dph 1–4 n = 8	dph 5–9 n = 9	dph 10–14 n = 4
suction acceleration	km	mm3 s−2	1–106	1.9 ± 1.3 × 103	3.9 ± 3.1 × 103	1.4 ± 1.1 × 105
ram acceleration	ku	mm s−2	1–106	3.6 ± 2.0 × 104	4.0 ± 2.0 × 104	5.7 ± 4.5 × 104
body radius	a	mm	0.7	0.56 ± 0.03	0.65 ± 0.09	0.79 ± 0.07
suction offset	b	mm	0.5	0.42 ± 0.09	0.58 ± 0.10	0.66 ± 0.14
strike distance	d0	mm	0.8	0.60 ± 0.23	1.0 ± 0.30	0.88 ± 0.26
sensitivity threshold	kd	s−1	1
reaction delay	tr	s	0.003