Substratum choice for nesting in male Nile tilapia <i>Oreochromis niloticus</i>

Mendonça, Francine Zocoler de; Volpato, Gilson Luiz; Costa-Ferreira, Roselene S.; Gonçalves-de-Freitas, Eliane

doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.2010.02754.x

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Something like this would be consistent with observations made by Mendonça et al . (), who demonstrated that preference for substrate in Nile tilapia fish depends on the context of the test. However, as preferences of fish may also depend on previous experience during early development (DePasquale et al ., ), this needs further investigation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Physical and psychological motivation tests of individual preferences in rainbow trout

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Animal preference and motivation have been used to assess different kinds of environmental resources that may help improve welfare conditions. However, preference and motivation are typically tested separately, and these assays disregard the individual nature of responses. Here, in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), we evaluated individual variability of preference for different resources, and whether these fish are motivated to access such preferred options. Individual fish were allowed to sample among four different compartments. Two different tests were used, one where the compartments varied in background colour, the other where the compartments varied in what they contained. Over a series of 10 days, the fish interacted with these different options and during the trials of the last 7 days, their visitation frequency to each compartment was registered every 30 s. The data were used to calculate a preference index for each fish. Physical motivation of individual fish to access preferred and dispreferred options was then tested by quantifying the frequency of pushes the fish gave to transparent hinged doors that led to the different compartments. In a separate test, whether fish entered a preferred or a dispreferred option after crossing an aversive open and brightly lit, along area was used as a measure of psychological motivation. Trout showed a strong preference for blue backgrounds, and were both more physically and psychologically motivated to access this color. However, preference and motivation for alternative items such as shelters or conspecifics were more variable. We conclude that the physical and psychological motivation of trout depend on the resources that they are trying to access, but the fish express stronger motivation to gain access to more preferred options.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Physical and psychological motivation tests of individual preferences in rainbow trout

et al. 2017

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…This different response to the color yellow may be because the preferences for different colors were evaluated by adding colored cellophane to the walls of transparent test aquaria, thus changing the color of the incident light, and did not evaluate different opaque background colors as tested here. In fact, preferences may vary depending on the different contextual conditions of the test [37]. However, other methodological differences might better explain these contradictory results.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Preference index supported by motivation tests in Nile tilapia

Maia

Volpato

2017

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The identification of animal preferences is assumed to provide better rearing environments for the animals in question. Preference tests focus on the frequency of approaches or the time an animal spends in proximity to each item of the investigated resource during a multiple-choice trial. Recently, a preference index (PI) was proposed to differentiate animal preferences from momentary responses (Sci Rep, 2016, 6:28328, DOI: 10.1038/srep28328). This index also quantifies the degree of preference for each item. Each choice response is also weighted, with the most recent responses weighted more heavily, but the index includes the entire bank of tests, and thus represents a history-based approach. In this study, we compared this PI to motivation tests, which consider how much effort is expended to access a resource. We performed choice tests over 7 consecutive days for 34 Nile tilapia fish that presented with different colored compartments in each test. We first detected the preferred and non-preferred colors of each fish using the PI and then tested their motivation to reach these compartments. We found that fish preferences varied individually, but the results were consistent with the motivation profiles, as individual fish were more motivated (the number of touches made on transparent, hinged doors that prevented access to the resource) to access their preferred items. On average, most of the 34 fish avoided the color yellow and showed less motivation to reach yellow and red colors. The fish also exhibited greater motivation to access blue and green colors (the most preferred colors). These results corroborate the PI as a reliable tool for the identification of animal preferences. We recommend this index to animal keepers and researchers to identify an animal’s preferred conditions.

show abstract

“…The different responses of the sexes may be not surprising, because substrate is a resource more relevant for P. taeniatus males, which construct sand piles in front of their breeding caves (Baldauf 2006). Also, recent research has determined that in other cichlid species predominantly males use substrate for nest building (Mendonça et al 2010, Schaedelin & Taborsky 2010. Sexes may also differ in learning ability and thereby in activity (Sneddon 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, the covered distance was measured as a proxy for activity and acclimatisation. Among cichlids, males are the predominant sex in substrate interaction, especially in the context of nest building (Baldauf 2006, Mendonça et al 2010, Schaedelin & Taborsky 2010. Thus, one would predict that male P. taeniatus show a stronger response than females to sand-treated water.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Substrate-treated water: a method to enhance fish activity in laboratory experiments

Meuthen¹,

Baldauf²,

Bakker³

et al. 2011

Aquat. Biol.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Substratum choice for nesting in male Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus

Abstract: Four substrata were offered to groups of adult Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (one male and two females) simultaneously: pure sand, a mixture of sand and shells, stones and no substratum. The results showed that males chose to dig nests in a lighter and more homogeneous substratum.

Cited by 18 publications

References 26 publications

Physical and psychological motivation tests of individual preferences in rainbow trout

Physical and psychological motivation tests of individual preferences in rainbow trout

Preference index supported by motivation tests in Nile tilapia

Substrate-treated water: a method to enhance fish activity in laboratory experiments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About