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Dwortz MF, Curley JP, Tye KM, Padilla-Coreano N. Neural systems that facilitate the representation of social rank. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200444. [PMID: 35000438 PMCID: PMC8743891 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0444] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Across species, animals organize into social dominance hierarchies that serve to decrease aggression and facilitate survival of the group. Neuroscientists have adopted several model organisms to study dominance hierarchies in the laboratory setting, including fish, reptiles, rodents and primates. We review recent literature across species that sheds light onto how the brain represents social rank to guide socially appropriate behaviour within a dominance hierarchy. First, we discuss how the brain responds to social status signals. Then, we discuss social approach and avoidance learning mechanisms that we propose could drive rank-appropriate behaviour. Lastly, we discuss how the brain represents memories of individuals (social memory) and how this may support the maintenance of unique individual relationships within a social group. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madeleine F. Dwortz
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
- Institute for Neuroscience, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - James P. Curley
- Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Kay M. Tye
- Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
| | - Nancy Padilla-Coreano
- Systems Neuroscience Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA 92037, USA
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Florida, Gainesville, FN 32611, USA
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2
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Hotta T, Awata S, Jordan LA, Kohda M. Subordinate Fish Mediate Aggressiveness Using Recent Contest Information. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.685907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Memorizing dominance relationships can help animals avoid unwinnable subsequent contests. However, when competitive ability changes over time—for example, as a function of condition—it may be adaptive to “forget” these dominance relationships and for subordinates to once again enter contests with previously dominant individuals. Here, we examined the behavior of pairs of male cichlid fish, Julidochromis transcriptus, in repeated contests separated by different time intervals. We found that the time taken to reach resolution of dominance relationships influenced subsequent aggressive behavior of the subordinate toward the dominant, with longer initial contests leading to higher subsequent aggression. Longer time intervals between contests also increased aggression from the subordinate toward the dominant. These results are consistent with increasing uncertainty due to ambiguous contest outcomes and increasing time intervals. Our results also show that a longer time was necessary to resolve contests between larger pairs, suggesting a self-assessment strategy, but not a mutual assessment strategy. Taken together, larger individuals appear to adaptively lose or ignore previously gathered social information because they have a higher fighting ability and better body condition. Therefore, we conclude that losing or ignoring unreliable information may be an adaptive strategy in the context of dominance relationships.
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Silveira MM, de Souza JF, Araujo-Silva H, Luchiari AC. Agonistic Behavior Is Affected by Memory in the Dusky Damselfish Stegastes fuscus. Front Behav Neurosci 2021; 15:663423. [PMID: 34489653 PMCID: PMC8418090 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2021.663423] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Accepted: 07/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
The ability to discriminate familiar from unfamiliar conspecifics has been demonstrated in several species of fish. Agonistic interactions are among the most frequent behaviors exhibited by territorial species and could offer useful information for the individual recognition process. In agonistic situations, memory may modulate the behavioral response and affect social dynamics, but few studies have explored the memory retention acquired during aggressive encounters. The present study investigated the memory retention of an agonistic encounter in the dusky damselfish Stegastes fuscus. The experimental procedure was divided into three parts: (1) Familiarization; (2) Recognition test; and (3) Memory test. During the familiarization phase, the fish were visually exposed to the same conspecific for 5 days (10 min per day) and the behavior was recorded. On the following day (conspecific recognition test), half of the animals were paired with the same conspecific and the other half with a different conspecific for 10 min, and the behavior was recorded. The fish were retested 5, 10, and 15 days after the test to evaluate memory retention. In the memory test, they were exposed to the same conspecific as before or to a different conspecific. We found that the damselfish reduced their agonistic displays when the stimulus fish was familiar, but when it was unfamiliar, the animals were more aggressive and only reduced their mnemonic response after 10 days. These results suggest that the recognition ability of damselfish can be affected by time and that it modulates agonistic response.
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Affiliation(s)
- M M Silveira
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - J F de Souza
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - H Araujo-Silva
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
| | - A C Luchiari
- Departamento de Fisiologia e Comportamento, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil
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4
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Differences in social information are critical to understanding aggressive behavior in animal dominance hierarchies. Curr Opin Psychol 2020; 33:209-215. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copsyc.2019.09.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2019] [Revised: 09/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/13/2019] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
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Abstract
“Face” is a special stimulus in humans and, nonhuman primates, and some other social mammals; that is, they perceive the face differently from the other body parts and other stimuli. In these species, the face conveys much information, so individuals examine the face at first sight rather than other body parts. Similar to mammals, the faces of fish also convey much information, but little is known about whether fish pay attention to the face or face-viewing patterns. Here we document the face-viewing patterns of the cichlid fish Neolamprologus brichardi, which can distinguish between conspecifics based on facial colouration. First, we established a method to identify the point at which subject fish inspected. Fish often fixated in direction to their heads toward the object of attention, suggesting that the extended body axis indicated the attention point. Using this attribute, we examined the point of attention of subject fish presented with photographs of conspecifics and heterospecifics. The results revealed that the fish inspected initially and repeatedly at the face and the duration was longer for the face than other body parts.
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Kawasaka K, Hotta T, Kohda M. Does a cichlid fish process face holistically? Evidence of the face inversion effect. Anim Cogn 2019; 22:153-162. [DOI: 10.1007/s10071-018-01231-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2018] [Revised: 12/12/2018] [Accepted: 12/19/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
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7
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Doi K, Nakamaru M. The coevolution of transitive inference and memory capacity in the hawk-dove game. J Theor Biol 2018; 456:91-107. [PMID: 30077734 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2018.08.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2017] [Revised: 07/31/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Transitive inference (TI) that uses known relationships to deduce unknown ones (using A > B and B > C to infer A > C given no direct interactions between A and C) to assess the opponent's strength, or resource-holding potential (RHP), is widely reported in animals living in a group. This sounds counter-intuitive because TI seems to require social cognition and larger memory capacity than other inference that does not require social cognition as much as TI; individuals need abilities to identify others, observe contests among others and keep the results in memory. We examine the coevolution of memory and transitive inference by the evolutionary simulations, using the asymmetric hawk-dove game. When a cost for losers is higher than a reward for winners, we found that the immediate inference strategy (II), which estimates the opponent's strength based on the past history of the direct fights, evolves with the large memory capacity, while the TI strategy, which estimates the unknown opponent's strength by transitive inference, evolves with the limited memory capacity. When a cost for losers is slightly higher than a reward for winners, the II strategy with the large memory capacity has an evolutionary advantage over the TI strategy with the limited memory capacity. It is because the direct fights are not so costly that more information about the fights leads to more accurate estimation of the opponent's strength and results in the accurate rank of the RHPs. When a cost for losers is much higher than a reward for winners, the TI strategy with the limited memory capacity has an evolutionary advantage. It is because a good way to avoid the costly fights is the prompt formation of the dominance hierarchy which does not necessarily reflect the actual rank of the RHPs; the TI strategy builds the dominance hierarchy much faster than the II strategy regardless of memory capacity, and the large amounts of information are not required for the TI strategy to form the dominance hierarchy promptly. Our study suggests that even smaller memory capacity is evolutionarily favored in TI. The TI strategy tends to reinforce the hierarchy once it is built, regardless of whether it is consistent with RHP or not, because results of direct fights are always counted. Smaller memory capacity allows players to adjust the hierarchy well if it does not represent RHP. These results prove that TI can evolve without a requirement for large memory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kazuto Doi
- Department of Innovation Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, CIC-901S, 3-3-6 Shibaura, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan.
| | - Mayuko Nakamaru
- Department of Innovation Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology, CIC-901S, 3-3-6 Shibaura, Minato-Ku, Tokyo 108-0023, Japan.
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Ito MH, Yamaguchi M, Kutsukake N. Redirected aggression as a conflict management tactic in the social cichlid fish Julidochromis regani. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20172681. [PMID: 29386369 PMCID: PMC5805954 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.2681] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2017] [Accepted: 01/10/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Conflict management consists of social behaviours that reduce the costs of conflict among group members. Redirected aggression-that is, when a recently attacked individual attacks a third party immediately after the original aggression-is considered a conflict management tactic, as it may reduce the victim's probability of being the object of further aggression. Redirected aggression has been reported in many vertebrates, but few quantitative studies have been conducted on this behaviour in fishes. We examined the function of redirected aggression in Julidochromis regani, a social cichlid fish. Behavioural experiments showed that redirected aggression functioned to divert the original aggressor's attention towards a third party and to pre-empt an attack towards the victim by the third-party individual, specifically among females. We found, however, that redirected aggression did not delay the recurrence of aggression by the original aggressor. These results suggest that a primary function of redirected aggression is to maintain the dominance of its actor against a subordinate occupying an adjacent rank. This study provides, to our knowledge, the first evidence that redirected aggression functions to manage conflict in social fish.
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Affiliation(s)
- Munehiko H Ito
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Miura, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan
| | - Motoomi Yamaguchi
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Miura, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan
| | - Nobuyuki Kutsukake
- Department of Evolutionary Studies of Biosystems, School of Advanced Sciences, SOKENDAI (The Graduate University for Advanced Studies), Hayama, Miura, Kanagawa 240-0193, Japan
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9
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Abstract
Abstract
True individual recognition (TIR), the ability to distinguish multiple familiar members individually, is more elaborate than class-level recognition, and evidence for the ability to perform TIR is reported from primates, some other social mammals, birds and lizard in vertebrates. These animals exhibit a highly social structure, wherein TIR is essential for their social interactions. Such high sociality has been documented in fish, but clear evidence of TIR has been limited. The cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher, a cooperative breeder that guards a territory, exhibits the dear enemy relationship. Here, we show that this fish distinguishes two familiar neighbours individually, i.e., TIR ability, using one-way mirrors in experimental tanks. Focal fish established the dear enemy relationship with two neighbours, NA and NB, and displayed limited aggression towards these familiar neighbours. However, their aggressiveness towards neighbour NB increased when they were shifted from the original side of the tank after NA was removed, suggesting that they distinguished NB from NA or regarded NB as a stranger. Interestingly, this aggression level against the shifted neighbour NB largely decreased within 1 min. This decrease contrasted with the longer and more frequent aggressiveness towards unfamiliar strangers. These results suggest that focal fish recognised neighbour NB as a familiar stranger but probably punished NB that moved beyond its territory, that is, betrayed the dear enemy relationship. We prevented the effects of the behavioural reactions of exposed individuals using a one-way mirror. Thus, we conclude that this fish species displays TIR and discuss that TIR is prevalent in territorial animals in which the dear enemy effect is common.
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Affiliation(s)
- Taiga Saeki
- Laboratory of Animal Sociology, Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
| | - Shumpei Sogawa
- Laboratory of Animal Sociology, Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
| | - Takashi Hotta
- Laboratory of Animal Sociology, Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
| | - Masanori Kohda
- Laboratory of Animal Sociology, Department of Biology and Geosciences, Graduate School of Science, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi, Osaka 558-8585, Japan
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Hotta T, Satoh S, Kosaka N, Kohda M. Face recognition in the Tanganyikan cichlid Julidochromis transcriptus. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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11
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Pearish S, Hostert L, Bell AM. A standardized method for quantifying consistent individual differences in schooling behaviour. JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY 2017; 90:443-450. [PMID: 27766651 PMCID: PMC5493478 DOI: 10.1111/jfb.13176] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 09/08/2016] [Indexed: 05/29/2023]
Abstract
A method for quantifying consistent individual differences in schooling behaviour is presented. This method, which utilizes a school of models, improves on previous methods by removing the unwanted variation that is introduced by live stimulus fish while still providing the physiological experience of schooling to the focal fish. Three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus observed in the model school assay exhibited consistent individual differences in schooling behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- S Pearish
- School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61821, U.S.A
- College of Science and Math, Norwich University, 158 Harmon Drive, Northfield, VT 05663, U.S.A
| | - L Hostert
- School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61821, U.S.A
| | - A M Bell
- School of Integrative Biology, University of Illinois, 505 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL 61821, U.S.A
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Sex differences in intrasexual aggression among sex-role-reversed, cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Julidochromis regani. J ETHOL 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10164-016-0501-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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13
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Hotta T, Takeyama T, Heg D, Awata S, Jordan LA, Kohda M. The use of multiple sources of social information in contest behavior: testing the social cognitive abilities of a cichlid fish. Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00085] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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14
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Hotta T, Jordan LA, Takeyama T, Kohda M. Order effects in transitive inference: does the presentation order of social information affect transitive inference in social animals? Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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