Through a glass darkly? Divergent reactions of eight Lake Tanganyika cichlid species towards their mirror image in their natural environment

Josi, Dario; Frommen, Joachim G.

doi:10.1111/eth.13207

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 69 publications

(127 reference statements)

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“…However, there are some artificialities in the mirror test, as the image does not respond to the fighting individual, therefore generating criticism of this method. Despite this criticism addressed to the mirror test, it was recently shown that several cichlid species under natural environments react to their mirror image with meaningful biological behaviors, according to the aggressive behavioral pattern of the species, regardless of any artificiality of the method 66 . Moreover, the aggressive behavior in the mirror test was found in several studies to positively correlate with the aggressiveness level of fish in live agonistic trials 67 , 68 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, mirror-elicited aggression is a predictor of individual stress 70 and is associated with gene expression in the hypothalamus of critical genes involved in the stress response of Nile tilapia 71 . Furthermore, despite criticism addressed to this method, it was recently demonstrated that several cichlid species in their natural environments aggressively react to their mirror image, expressing resembling behavioral patterns presented during fights with co-specifics 66 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cannabidiol improves Nile tilapia cichlid fish welfare

Camargo-dos-Santos

Bellot²,

Guermandi³

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

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Cannabidiol (CBD) is a substance derived from Cannabis sativa, widely studied in medicine for controlling neural diseases in humans. Besides the positive effects on humans, it also presents anxiolytic proprieties and decreases aggressiveness and stress in mammals. Therefore, CBD has the potential to increase welfare in reared animals, as it seems to reduce negative states commonly experienced in artificial environments. Here, we tested the effect of different CBD doses (0, 1, 10 and 20 mg/kg) on aggressiveness, stress and reproductive development of the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) a fish reared worldwide for farming and research purposes. CBD mixed with fish food was offered to isolated fish for 5 weeks. The 10 mg/kg dose decreased fish’s aggressiveness over time, whereas 20 mg/kg attenuated non-social stress. Both doses decreased the baseline cortisol level of fish and increased the gonadosomatic index. However, CBD 1 and 10 mg/kg doses decreased the spermatozoa number. No CBD dose affected feeding ingestion and growth variables, showing that it is not harmful to meat production amount. Despite the effect on spermatozoa, CBD supplementation exhibits high potential to benefit animals’ lives in artificial environments. Therefore, we showed for the first time that CBD could be used as a tool to increase non-mammal welfare, presenting a great potential to be explored in other husbandry and captivity species.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cannabidiol improves Nile tilapia cichlid fish welfare

Camargo-dos-Santos

Bellot²,

Guermandi³

et al. 2022

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The mark test (Gallup 1970), which purports to establish self-awareness, has biased mirror reactions in an anthropocentric way, thus distracting attention from what other reactions might indicate (Broom 2010;de Waal 2019). Many animals appear to see a conspecific in the mirror (Kusayama et al 2000), including fish, who tend to react aggressively (Josi & Frommen 2021) and others perform self directed actions in front of it (Broom 2014;Ari & D'Agostino 2016).…”

Section: Novel Objectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Field Observations of the Behaviour of Blackfin Reef Sharks (<em>Carcharhinus melanopterus</em>)

Porcher¹

2022

Preprint

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The chondrichthyan lineage diverged from the osteichthyan line 440 million years ago, resulting in a vast evolutionary gulf between modern elasmobranchs and other vertebrates. Though this has supported the assumption that sharks are ancient, dangerous, and binary-minded, the few ethological studies done have noted intelligent actions including social exchanges. Yet their behaviour remains little known. On seeing that Carcharhinus melanopterus displayed complex actions during incidental meetings, a long-term ethological study of the species was carried out using artificial aggregations, at several sites in the fringe lagoon of Mo’orea Island, French Polynesia. Short and long-term behaviour was recorded in 473 individuals, including an ethogram, roaming patterns, social interactions, and cognition. C. melanopterus is considered sedentary, yet the home range could also be viewed as a place to pause between travels, for most individuals left for long periods. The study community and its visitors travelled in correlation with the lunar phase, in groups of up to six individuals, socializing with conspecifics encountered along the way, and displaying fluid social dynamics. C. melanopterus was highly alert to danger yet prone to investigate novel objects, a combination that generated a variety of tactics to remain hidden while investigating the environment. Basic to this was the use of the visual limit for escape or to screen their presence, indicating an awareness of being present and observable. Using their other senses, they could focus their attention on events beyond visual range and made swift decisions to act as circumstances unfolded. In their non-territorial, non-hierarchical society, any shark could lead, but it was usually the same ones that did so. Therefore, unusual individuals had a significant effect on events through social learning, suggesting the potential for culture. Actions in a variety of situations suggested complex cognition, and individuals displayed both positive and negative subjective states including playfulness.

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“…Cichlid fishes make up about 10% of all teleost fish species. They are a diverse family of fish well known for being aggressive and territorial (Arnott and Elwood, 2009; Genner, Turner and Hawkins, 1999; Hirschenhauser et al, 2004; Josi and Frommen, 2021). Haplochromine cichlids are popular models in the study of adaptive radiation and speciation (Genner and Turner, 2005; Kocher, 2004; Moser et al, 2018; Seehausen and van Alphen, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Territorial aggression in male bower-building cichlidsNyassachromiscf.microcephalusis disrupted by exposure to environmental concentrations of fluoxetine

Lee

Smith

King

et al. 2022

Preprint

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Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed drugs for treating human depression, but the role of serotonin—often called the happy chemical—is complex, associated with the regulation of appetite, anxiety, aggression, and more. With such psychoactive pharmaceuticals being increasingly detected in aquatic environments and their effects on non-target species an uncertainty, this study seeks to investigate how inhibiting the serotonin pathway with the SSRI fluoxetine affects territorial aggression, using the cichlid fishNyassachromiscf.microcephalusas a model. Males of this sand-dwelling Lake Malawi species build bowers to attract females within a lekking system, where male-male competition is intense. Being aggressive in defending against intruders would serve to maximise mating opportunities and reproductive success for the territory holding male. However, after a one-week exposure to fluoxetine at environmentally relevant concentrations, a decline in aggression was observed in the male cichlids. This implies the serotonergic system plays an important role in modulating aggression and therefore sexual selection in cichlid fishes, and that environmental pollution has the potential to disrupt these behaviours.

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Through a glass darkly? Divergent reactions of eight Lake Tanganyika cichlid species towards their mirror image in their natural environment

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creat ive Commo ns Attri bution-NonCo mmercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Cited by 6 publications

References 69 publications

Cannabidiol improves Nile tilapia cichlid fish welfare

Cannabidiol improves Nile tilapia cichlid fish welfare

Field Observations of the Behaviour of Blackfin Reef Sharks (<em>Carcharhinus melanopterus</em>)

Territorial aggression in male bower-building cichlidsNyassachromiscf.microcephalusis disrupted by exposure to environmental concentrations of fluoxetine

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