The effect of body coloration and group size on social partner preferences in female fighting fish (Betta splendens)

Behavior, intestinal health, and growth of small sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus in different color morphs

Selecting high-quality seeds with long-term advantages in behavior, intestinal health, and growth are the key to improve production efficiency of sea cucumber aquaculture. It is proposed to distinguish the seed quality of sea cucumbers by color morphs. In the present study, we carried out a 6-week experiment to investigate behavior, intestinal health, and growth of small sea cucumbers Apostichopus japonicus in different color morphs. We found that dark-colored seeds of sea cucumber were significantly more adhesive than those with light-colored seeds. This indicates that the dark-colored seeds of A. japonicus are more adaptive in complex environments in stock enhancement. Food consumption and defecation outputs of dark-colored seeds were significantly higher than those of light-colored seeds. In addition, the feces of dark-colored seeds of sea cucumber had significantly lower crude protein content and better intestinal morphology, but there was no advantage in digestive enzyme activities. This suggests that there are potential digestive benefits in dark-colored seeds. Further, dark-colored seeds of A. japonicus showed significantly better intestinal microbiota composition and faster growth rate than that of light-colored seeds. In conclusion, the present results prove that dark-colored seeds of sea cucumber have long-term advantages in behavior, intestinal health and growth. Overall, this study provides important information for the early selection of seeds and the consequent production efficiency in sea cucumber aquaculture.

Minimal water volume for intensively producing male Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens Regan, 1910)

Water volume is a key parameter affecting the individual rearing of male Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens Regan, 1910). In this study, minimization of water volume was pursued by assessing growth, feed utilization, digestive enzyme activities, color coordinates, muscle quality, and carcass composition. One-month-old solid-red male fish (0.97 ± 0.01 g initial body weight) were distributed individually into glass aquaria with five alternative water volumes (100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 mL), comprising 15 fish per treatment (n = 15), over 8 weeks duration. No mortality of the reared fish was found during the study. Growth performance and feed utilization of the fish reared in 150 mL water were superior to the other treatments. The water volume significantly affected specific activities of the digestive enzymes (P ˂ 0.05), except for amylase, and no differences in enzyme activities were observed between fish reared in 150 and in 300 mL water. The preferred treatment maintained skin lightness (L*) and had the highest redness (a* and a*/b*) among the treatments. Protein synthesis (RNA concentration) and its turnover rate (RNA/protein ratio) and myosin and actin in muscle also benefited from this treatment. Carcass composition, in terms of moisture, crude protein, and crude ash, was maintained, but the amount of crude lipid fluctuated with water volume. Based on our experiments, the preferred minimal water volume for individual rearing of male Siamese fighting fish should be about 150 mL.

Male preference for conspecific mates is stronger than females' in Betta splendens

The higher energetic cost related to female gamete investment is classically considered the driving force behind sexual selection. This asymmetric cost of reproduction is thought to cause female preference for elaborate male ornamentation. Subsequent co-evolution of female preferences and male ornaments is thought then to lead to a greater preference for conspecific mates in females as compared to males. Thus, female choice is classically assumed to contribute more than male choice to behavioral isolation between sexually dimorphic species. However, this hypothesis fails to account for the cost of maintaining a territory, building a nest, courtship displays, ornament investment, and parental care, as seen in males of the Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens. Here we show that male B. splendens have a greater preference for female conspecifics than females have for male conspecifics, when given a choice between conspecifics and the allopatric Betta imbellis. We hypothesize that in B. splendens, the cost of mating may be higher for males than females, and predict that male choice would contribute to behavioral isolation upon secondary contact of wild populations.

Multiple cues produced by a robotic fish modulate aggressive behaviour in Siamese fighting fishes

The use of robotics to establish social interactions between animals and robots, represents an elegant and innovative method to investigate animal behaviour. However, robots are still underused to investigate high complex and flexible behaviours, such as aggression. Here, Betta splendens was tested as model system to shed light on the effect of a robotic fish eliciting aggression. We evaluated how multiple signal systems, including a light stimulus, affect aggressive responses in B. splendens. Furthermore, we conducted experiments to estimate if aggressive responses were triggered by the biomimetic shape of fish replica, or whether any intruder object was effective as well. Male fishes showed longer and higher aggressive displays as puzzled stimuli from the fish replica increased. When the fish replica emitted its full sequence of cues, the intensity of aggression exceeded even that produced by real fish opponents. Fish replica shape was necessary for conspecific opponent perception, evoking significant aggressive responses. Overall, this study highlights that the efficacy of an artificial opponent eliciting aggressive behaviour in fish can be boosted by exposure to multiple signals. Optimizing the cue combination delivered by the robotic fish replica may be helpful to predict escalating levels of aggression.

Acute exposure to 17α-ethinylestradiol alters boldness behavioral syndrome in female Siamese fighting fish

The role of anthropogenic sources in generating, maintaining, and influencing behavioral syndromes has recently been identified as an important area of future research. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are prevalent and persistent in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. These chemicals are known to have marked effects on the morphology and behavior of exposed individuals and, as such, may serve as a potential influence on behavioral syndromes. However, both the effects of exposure on behaviors beyond courtship and aggression and how exposure might affect behavioral variation at the individual level are understudied. To address this question, we examined boldness behavior in female Siamese fighting fish in three different assays (Novel Environment, Empty Tank, Shoaling) both before and after they were exposed to the estrogen mimic, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2). EE2 influences courtship, aggression, and boldness in males of this species but its effects have not been examined in females, to our knowledge. Females were tested multiple times in each assay before and after exposure so that behavioral consistency could be examined. A behavioral syndrome for boldness and activity level occurred across the three assays. The reductions in boldness and loss of the behavioral syndrome that resulted from EE2 exposure were surprising and suggest that the effects of EE2 exposure on female behavior and physiology should be examined more frequently. This study is one of the first to examine the effects of EE2 in females as well as on correlated behaviors and emphasizes the importance of examining the effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals on individual behavioral variation and consistency.

Regulation of red fluorescent light emission in a cryptic marine fish

Introduction

Animal colouration is a trade-off between being seen by intended, intra- or inter-specific receivers while not being seen by the unintended. Many fishes solve this problem by adaptive colouration. Here, we investigate whether this also holds for fluorescent pigments. In those aquatic environments in which the ambient light is dominated by bluish light, red fluorescence can generate high-contrast signals. The marine, cryptic fish Tripterygion delaisi inhabits such environments and has a bright red-fluorescent iris that can be rapidly up- and down-regulated. Here, we described the physiological and cellular mechanism of this phenomenon using a neurostimulation treatment with KCl and histology.

Results

KCl-treatment revealed that eye fluorescence regulation is achieved through dispersal and aggregation of black-pigmented melanosomes within melanophores. Histology showed that globular, fluorescent iridophores on the anterior side of the iris are grouped and each group is encased by finger-like extensions of a single posterior melanophore. Together they form a so-called chromatophore unit. By dispersal and aggregation of melanosomes into and out of the peripheral membranous extensions of the melanophore, the fluorescent iridophores are covered or revealed on the anterior (outside) of the iris.

Conclusion

T. delaisi possesses a well-developed mechanism to control the fluorescent emission from its eyes, which may be advantageous given its cryptic lifestyle. This is the first time chromatophore units are found to control fluorescent emission in marine teleost fishes. We expect other fluorescent fish species to use similar mechanisms in the iris or elsewhere in the body. In contrast to a previously described mechanism based on dendritic fluorescent chromatophores, chromatophore units control fluorescent emission through the cooperation between two chromatophore types: an emitting and an occluding type. The discovery of a second mechanism for fluorescence modulation strengthens our view that fluorescence is a relevant and adaptive component of fish colouration.

Knowing your audience affects male-male interactions in Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)

Aggressive interactions between animals often occur in the presence of third parties. By observing aggressive signalling interactions, bystanders may eavesdrop and gain relevant information about conspecifics without the costs of interacting. On the other hand, interactants may also adjust their behaviour when an audience is present. This study aimed to test how knowledge about fighting ability of an audience affects aggressive interactions in male Siamese fighting fish. Subjects were positioned between two dyads of non-interacting males and allowed to observe both dyads shortly before the view to one of the dyads was blocked, and the dyads were allowed to interact. Subjects were subsequently exposed to an unknown opponent in the presence of either the winner or the loser of the seen or unseen interaction. The results suggest a complex role of the characteristic of an audience in the agonistic behaviours of a subject engaged in an interaction. The presence of a seen audience elicited more aggressive displays towards the opponent if the audience was a loser. This response was different in the presence of an unseen audience. Subjects then directed a higher aggressiveness against their opponent if the audience was a winner. These results also suggest a potentially more complex and interesting process allowing individuals to gain information about the quality and threat level of an unknown audience while it is interacting with a third party. The importance of information acquisition for an individual to adapt its behaviour and the role of communication networks in shaping social interactions are discussed.

Morphology, testes development and behaviour of unusual triploid males in microchromosome-carrying clones of Poecilia formosa

In a microchromosome-carrying laboratory stock of the normally all-female Amazon molly Poecilia formosa triploid individuals were obtained, all of which spontaneously developed into males. A comparison of morphology of the external and internal insemination apparatus and the gonads, sperm ploidy and behaviour, to laboratory-bred F(1) hybrids revealed that the triploid P. formosa males, though producing mostly aneuploid sperm, are partly functional males that differ mainly in sperm maturation and sexual motivation from gonochoristic P. formosa males.

Recent social environment affects colour-assortative shoaling in juvenile angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)

Theory predicts that fish should show colour-assortative shoaling in order to avoid the oddity effect whereby individuals that differ in some feature from the group majority appear to incur increased risk of predation. It has also been shown that early experience plays an important role in affecting social preferences in some fish species. In this study, the importance of colour phenotype in promoting assortative shoaling and the role played by the recent social environment on its expression were investigated in juvenile angelfish, Pterophyllum scalare. Individuals of the uniformly black and golden colour morphs were housed in a group with conspecifics of like and unlike body colour to themselves, as well as in mixed-colour groups for 4 weeks. Subsequently, they were subjected to a binary choice to shoal with a group of conspecifics composed of unfamiliar fish of either a like or unlike colour phenotype to themselves. The response of the individuals to the colour attributes of the shoals was related to their recent social environment. Fish in like- and mixed-colour previous treatments showed a preferential association with like colour conspecifics. In contrast, the shoaling behaviour exhibited by fish previously maintained with a group of unlike-coloured conspecifics (cross-housed treatment) indicated no significant preference for any of the shoals. The results suggest that angelfish use body colouration as an intraspecific shoaling cue and that learning, in the form of recent familiarization with a specific colour phenotype of conspecifics, can affect colour-assortative shoaling preferences in this species. This learning component of the choice need not be restricted to early developmental stages.