Social learning of escape routes in zebrafish and the stability of behavioural traditions
Multiple factors potentially influence the formation and longevity of behavioural traditions. In zebrafish, Danio rerio, we investigated whether subjects follow knowledgeable fish escaping from a novel artificial predator, learn this escape response, and maintain the demonstrated escape route and response when knowledgeable fish were removed. A moving [`]trawl’ net forced fish to escape via one […]
Physiological and health consequences of social status in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Social status affects access to food, mates and shelter and has consequences for the physiology of individuals and their health status. In the zebrafish (Danio rerio), an emerging model for studies into animal behavior, the possible consequences of social hierarchy to an individual’s physiology and health are unknown. To address this, in this species we […]
Locomotor behaviors in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae
Locomotor behaviors were examined in two experiments using zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae at 4, 5, 6 and 7 days post fertilization (dpf). Larvae were observed in individual wells of a 12-well plate for 1 h a day. In Experiment 1, the same larvae were observed for four consecutive days beginning on post-fertilization day 4; in […]
Acute stress disrupts performance of zebrafish in the cued and spatial memory tests: The utility of fish models to study stress–memory interplay
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as a promising model organism for affective or cognitive neuroscience research, and may be useful to study the interplay between memory and anxiety-related states. To assess the effects of acute psychological stress on spatial and cued memory, adult zebrafish were trained in an aquatic plus-maze for 14 days using […]
Development of aggressive phenotypes in zebrafish: interactions of age, experience and social status
Aggression is important in the life history of most vertebrate species and influences ecological and social relationships by regulating the dynamics of territoriality, hierarchy, predation and resource utilization. The expression of aggressive behaviour develops as an individual ages and is often shaped by social experience. Even though the heritability of traits that yield dominant–subordinate relationships […]
Aggression and sex differences in lateralization in the zebrafish
Aggression plays an important role in survival and reproduction. It can be measured using mirror and dyadic tests, but there is some debate about whether interactions with a mirror image and with a real opponent measure the same aspects of aggressiveness. Variation in aggressiveness among individuals has been linked to behavioural lateralization. Lateralization, the preference […]