Laboratory studies of the effects of short‐term isolation on aggressive behaviour in fish

Gómez‐Laplaza, Luis M.; Morgan, Elfed

doi:10.1080/10236240009387083

Cited by 42 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 193 publications

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“…Thirdly, probably a prior residence effect occurred (e.g., Figler & Einhorn, 1983;Figler et al, 1986;Turner, 1994), which can be established through isolation in many cichlids. An increased level of aggression in the absence of competitors may be advantageous because it increases the chance to win contests against conspecific intruders (Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan, 2000). Moreover, similar size between the "combatants" produces a symmetrical contest that increases aggression in A. ocellatus (Beeching, 1992).…”

Section: Braz J Biol 66(1b)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although this behavior resembles "resting", as described by Baerends & Baerends-Van Roon (1950), it could be considered a stress indicator in this species because immobility can be associated with a typical fright reaction reported for other fishes (e.g., Barlow et al, 1986;Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan, 1986). According to Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan (1993;2000), patterns of aggressive behavior may be influenced by transfer effect, as described for Pterophylum scalare, which showed reduced aggressiveness after being transferred from one aquarium to another (Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan, 1993). Thus, we concluded that the absence of aggression and the reduced activity on Day-0 of our study were caused by handling-related stress during the transfer from grouping to isolating aquaria.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several variables can affect aggressive drive in fishes, such as prior residence (Figler & Einhorn, 1983), dominance or subordination experience (Nelissen & Andries, 1988), levels of androgens (Munro & Pitcher, 1983) and social isolation (Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan, 2000). With regard to the latter factor, there are diverse effects depending on the species, isolation period and other social organization-related factors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, the angelfish, Pterophylum scalare, does not alter its aggressiveness when isolated for short periods (Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan, 1993). This theme was revised by Gómez-Laplaza & Morgan (2000) for teleost fishes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Social isolation and aggressiveness in the Amazonian juvenile fish Astronotus ocellatus

Gonçalves-de-Freitas

Mariguela

2006

Braz. J. Biol.

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We tested the effect of social isolation on the aggressiveness of an Amazonian fish: Astronotus ocellatus. Ten juvenile fishes were transferred from a group aquarium (60 x 60 x 40 cm) containing 15 individuals (without distinguishing sex) to an isolation aquarium (50 x 40 x 40 cm). Aggressiveness was tested by means of attacks on and displays toward the mirror image. The behavior was video-recorded for 10 min at a time on 4 occasions: at 30 min, 1 day, 5 days and 15 days after isolation. The aggressive drive was analyzed in three ways: latency to display agonistic behavior, frequency of attacks and specific attacks toward the mirror image. The latency to attack decreased during isolation, but the frequency of mouth fighting (a high aggressive attack) tended to increase, indicating an augmented aggressive drive. Our findings are congruent with the behavior of the juvenile cichlid, Haplochromis burtoni but differ from the behavior observed in another cichlid, Pterophylum scalare. Increased aggressiveness in A. ocellatus may be mediated by means of the primer effect, the effect of prior residence or processes involving recognition of a conspecific.

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Section: Braz J Biol 66(1b)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Social isolation and aggressiveness in the Amazonian juvenile fish Astronotus ocellatus

Gonçalves-de-Freitas

Mariguela

2006

Braz. J. Biol.

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“…Visual isolation for 48 h was achieved by aligning tanks and separating them with opaque plastic dividers. The absence of social interaction mitigates the behavioural effects of previous winning or losing (Hsu et al 2006;Prenter et al 2008) and also heightens aggression (Gomez-Laplaza & Morgan 2000). The duration of isolation was carefully selected (in accordance with previous contest studies in A. nigrofasciata, such as Reddon & Hurd 2009) to balance the need to mitigate previous social experience and enable territory formation, while trying to minimize the stress associated with isolation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing aggressive motivation in a cichlid fish

Arnott

Elwood

2009

Biol. Lett.

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The duration of startles provides an inverse measure of motivation to resume the previous activity. Here, we use a novel method in which one convict cichlid fish ( Amatitlania nigrofasciata ) of a competing pair was startled independently of the opponent. Fish were given various opponents and the mean startle duration determined. This mean was negatively correlated with the mean use of highly escalated ‘frontal activities’ such as biting and frontal display, but not the less escalated lateral displays or tail beating. Thus the startle duration was a reliable surrogate measure of the most escalated components of aggressive interactions. That is, it provided a motivational probe for aggressiveness of individual fish. Fight motivation is often determined in terms of fight duration or physiological costs for losers, who reveal the costs they are prepared to pay. We discuss various potential advantages of the motivational probe over previous measures, particularly with respect to winners and losers and different times during the interactions.

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