Behavioral modulation in zebrafish females of different reproductive states, through visual and chemical signals

LEONEL MORANDINI; PAULA VALCHI; LUCIANO CAVALLINO; MATÍAS PANDOLFI

Congreso; 2nd FALAN congress; 2016

Teleost fish, like any other animals, display different reproductive strategies and courtship signals, which can be visual, auditory, machanosensory or chemical, and altogether provide information about the state of the transmitter. The aim of this work was to determine if there were differences in Danio rerio (known as Zebrafish) females? neuroendocrine response and behavior, according to their reproductive status and the kind of signal they received from males. Each pre- or post-egg laying female was exposed to a male, which was to be perceived through visual, chemical or both stimuli. To do so, one male and one female were separated by a barrier that allowed the potential transmission of one or both signals. The encounter was recorded for approximately 40 minutes for the subsequent analysis of the behavioral displays and females? predisposition to approach to males, the latter determined as the percentage of time that females were close to the compartment of males. Results showed that when females perceived males through both types of stimuli in simultaneous, they presented greater reproductive displays, and a stronger predisposition for approaching them. Preliminary results tend to indicate that those effects where enhanced in pre-egg laying females.