Variation in nest building, aggression, learning, and steroid hormone levels in Betta splendens.

Individuals within a population present behavioral responses that vary according to intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as ontogenetic phase, nutritional status, reproductive stage, and previous experiences. These differences can be explained by endogenous changes, such as hormone release, that can modulate reproductive behaviors, stress response, and cognitive processes. In order to investigate the relationship between behavior and hormonal levels in the fighting fish Betta splendens, the present study characterized nest building, aggressive behavior, learning of a task, and levels of cortisol and 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) in 86 male Fighting fish. At the beginning of the experiment (days 1-4), fish were characterized as nest builders, intermediate builders, or non-builders. They were then sequentially tested for aggression (days 7-8), learning performance (days 11-21), and circulating hormone levels (day 23). Nest builders showed the lowest hormonal levels at the end of the experiment and low aggressiveness; Intermediate builders presented low cortisol, but high KT levels and best learned the task; Non-builders were the most aggressive animals with higher cortisol levels (at day 23). Our data suggest that in B. splendens, aggressive behavior and learning performance are related to the relative investment in reproduction and variation in circulating levels of corticosteroids and androgens.

Time place learning and activity profile under constant light and constant dark in zebrafish (Danio rerio).

The ability to learn about the signs of variability in space and time is known as time place learning (TPL). To adjust their circadian rhythms, animals use stimuli that change regularly, such as the light-dark cycle, temperature, food availability or even social stimuli. Because light-dark cycle is the most important environmental temporal cue, we asked how a diurnal animal would perform TPL if this cue was removed. Zebrafish has been extensively studied in the chronobiology area due to it diurnal chronotype, thus, we studied the effects of constant light and constant dark on the time-place learning and activity profile in zebrafish. Our data show that while under constant light and dark condition zebrafish was not able of TPL, after 30days under the constant conditions, constant light led to higher activity level and less significant (robust) 24h rhythm.

Time-place learning in the zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Animals exhibit activity cycles that repeat over days. The most noteworthy cyclical behaviors are related to forraging, which generally occur at the same times and locations. The synchronization of animal activities via the association of different places at different times for the occurrence of relevant biological events is known as time-place learning (TPL). In the present study, we used zebrafish (Danio rerio) to test time-place learning based on a different stimulus: social reinforcement. Fish were not only able to associate time and place of the social stimulus, but also displayed anticipatory activity prior to the arrival of the stimulus. Furthermore, we show that the group of conspecifics is an relevant stimulus for time-place learning tasks, while other studies have only used food.