?Females? sexual status modulation of male behavior under visual or chemical stimuli in Danio rerio (Zebrafish).?

LEONEL MORANDINI; LUCIANO CAVALLINO; PAULA VALCHI; MATÍAS PANDOLFI

Congreso; 2nd FALAN congress; 2016

In courtship and reproduction, the production of reliablesignals of sexual and social status are essential.Fish exhibita large number of reproductive strategies and, as in othervertebrates, these behavioursare modulated by visual,olfactory, auditory and/or tactile signals. Nevertheless,these signs are not always equally effective. Danio rerio is byfar the most studied model of teleost fish. However, thereare still many aspects of its reproductive behaviour to beelucidated. The aim of this work was to make clear whetherD. rerio males have different demeanours in response tofemales? sexual status, perceived through the visual system,olfactory or a combination of both. In this sense, individualmales of D. rerio were exposed to one female in a visual,chemical or visual and chemical way to sort out which oneplays a more active role. Furthermore, considering thatsignals may evidence sexual status, females were selectedin two different reproductive dispositions: pre-spawningand post-spawning. In order to measure males? behaviourand rapprochement, fishes were video-recorded. Males?compartments were divided in three sections, of differentproximity to females, and the time males spent in eachone was registered. Adult males presented higher levels ofreproductive displays with pre-spawning females perceivedthrough both chemical and visual cues. These resultswill be complemented in future studies analysing theneuroendocrine response.