Consequences of aggressive threats by Betta splendens

Abstract

Male Siamese fighting fish continued to approach visual stimuli associated with conspecifics in the absence of opportunities to perform threat displays or to attack. Dominant fish performed more operant responses than subordinates when such responses led to the appearance of their own mirror images, and all fish learned to delay their threat displays if these resulted in disappearance of the mirror image. In a second experiment, subjects overwhelmingly preferred to view conspecifics (to whom they frequently displayed) compared to no stimulus or members of other species (to whom they did not display). The functions of threat displays in aggressive encounters is discussed.

Some comparative aspects of yawning in Betta splendens, Homo sapiens, Panthera leo, and Papio sphinx..

“…If yawning were associated with absence of stimulation or lack of stimulus change, one might expect the response to increase after isolation and repeated exposure to the same conspecific. Instead, like the biting response in repeated pair encounters of this species (Baenninger, 1984), the pattern I am referring to as yawning appears to wane.…”

“…While doing research on the aggressive threats and other social behaviors of Betta splendens (Baenninger, 1966; Baenninger, 1984), I observed yawning during encounters with conspecifics and with mirror images but not in their solitary behavior. For this reason I hypothesized that yawning would occur primarily when conspecifics were visible, and particularly in aggressive, intruder-resident interactions.…”

Some comparative aspects of yawning in Betta splendens, Homo sapiens, Panthera leo, and Papio sphinx..

“…If yawning were associated with absence of stimulation or lack of stimulus change, one might expect the response to increase after isolation and repeated exposure to the same conspecific. Instead, like the biting response in repeated pair encounters of this species (Baenninger, 1984), the pattern I am referring to as yawning appears to wane.…”

“…While doing research on the aggressive threats and other social behaviors of Betta splendens (Baenninger, 1966; Baenninger, 1984), I observed yawning during encounters with conspecifics and with mirror images but not in their solitary behavior. For this reason I hypothesized that yawning would occur primarily when conspecifics were visible, and particularly in aggressive, intruder-resident interactions.…”

The effect of an audience on intrasexual communication in male Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

“…Breeding fighting fish are territorial, defending an area around a nest of mucus-coated bubbles floating on the water surface. They are a good species in which to study the effects of an audience because their aggressive displays are highly stereotypic, conspicuous, and well documented (e.g., Baenninger, 1984;Bronstein, 1985;Evans, 1985;Galizio et al, 1985;Halperin et al, 1992;Robertson, 1979;Wallen and Wojciechowski Metzlar, 1985). Fighting fish are also the only species of fish in which both males and females have been shown to eavesdrop (Doutrelant and McGregor, 2000;Oliveira et al, 1998).…”

Effect of substituting live feed with formulated feed on the reproductive performance and fry survival of Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (Regan, 1910)

“…The attractiveness of this fish is in their colors and fin designs. Until recent, most of the studies reported on B. splendens were primarily on their behavior like aggression of male fish (Baenninger 1984), choice of mating and spawning (Clotfelter et al 2006), and characteristics of bubble nest formation (Jaroensutainee and Jaroensutainee 2001). To our knowledge, very few studies were conducted on the breeding performance of B. splendens fed different types of animal/plant protein-based diet.…”

Some comparative aspects of yawning in Betta splendens, Homo sapiens, Panthera leo, and Papio sphinx..

“…If yawning were associated with absence of stimulation or lack of stimulus change, one might expect the response to increase after isolation and repeated exposure to the same conspecific. Instead, like the biting response in repeated pair encounters of this species (Baenninger, 1984), the pattern I am referring to as yawning appears to wane.…”

“…While doing research on the aggressive threats and other social behaviors of Betta splendens (Baenninger, 1966; Baenninger, 1984), I observed yawning during encounters with conspecifics and with mirror images but not in their solitary behavior. For this reason I hypothesized that yawning would occur primarily when conspecifics were visible, and particularly in aggressive, intruder-resident interactions.…”

The effect of an audience on intrasexual communication in male Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

“…Breeding fighting fish are territorial, defending an area around a nest of mucus-coated bubbles floating on the water surface. They are a good species in which to study the effects of an audience because their aggressive displays are highly stereotypic, conspicuous, and well documented (e.g., Baenninger, 1984;Bronstein, 1985;Evans, 1985;Galizio et al, 1985;Halperin et al, 1992;Robertson, 1979;Wallen and Wojciechowski Metzlar, 1985). Fighting fish are also the only species of fish in which both males and females have been shown to eavesdrop (Doutrelant and McGregor, 2000;Oliveira et al, 1998).…”

Effect of substituting live feed with formulated feed on the reproductive performance and fry survival of Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (Regan, 1910)

“…The attractiveness of this fish is in their colors and fin designs. Until recent, most of the studies reported on B. splendens were primarily on their behavior like aggression of male fish (Baenninger 1984), choice of mating and spawning (Clotfelter et al 2006), and characteristics of bubble nest formation (Jaroensutainee and Jaroensutainee 2001). To our knowledge, very few studies were conducted on the breeding performance of B. splendens fed different types of animal/plant protein-based diet.…”

Some comparative aspects of yawning in Betta splendens, Homo sapiens, Panthera leo, and Papio sphinx..

“…If yawning were associated with absence of stimulation or lack of stimulus change, one might expect the response to increase after isolation and repeated exposure to the same conspecific. Instead, like the biting response in repeated pair encounters of this species (Baenninger, 1984), the pattern I am referring to as yawning appears to wane.…”

“…While doing research on the aggressive threats and other social behaviors of Betta splendens (Baenninger, 1966; Baenninger, 1984), I observed yawning during encounters with conspecifics and with mirror images but not in their solitary behavior. For this reason I hypothesized that yawning would occur primarily when conspecifics were visible, and particularly in aggressive, intruder-resident interactions.…”

The effect of an audience on intrasexual communication in male Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens

“…Breeding fighting fish are territorial, defending an area around a nest of mucus-coated bubbles floating on the water surface. They are a good species in which to study the effects of an audience because their aggressive displays are highly stereotypic, conspicuous, and well documented (e.g., Baenninger, 1984;Bronstein, 1985;Evans, 1985;Galizio et al, 1985;Halperin et al, 1992;Robertson, 1979;Wallen and Wojciechowski Metzlar, 1985). Fighting fish are also the only species of fish in which both males and females have been shown to eavesdrop (Doutrelant and McGregor, 2000;Oliveira et al, 1998).…”

Effect of substituting live feed with formulated feed on the reproductive performance and fry survival of Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens (Regan, 1910)

“…The attractiveness of this fish is in their colors and fin designs. Until recent, most of the studies reported on B. splendens were primarily on their behavior like aggression of male fish (Baenninger 1984), choice of mating and spawning (Clotfelter et al 2006), and characteristics of bubble nest formation (Jaroensutainee and Jaroensutainee 2001). To our knowledge, very few studies were conducted on the breeding performance of B. splendens fed different types of animal/plant protein-based diet.…”