IBBEA   24401
INSTITUTO DE BIODIVERSIDAD Y BIOLOGIA EXPERIMENTAL Y APLICADA
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
congresos y reuniones científicas
Título:
Fightng cichlids: network analysis as a new tool to understand female and male aggression.
Autor/es:
MARIA FLORENCIA SCAIA; MATIAS PANDOLFI; GUSTAVO SOMOZA
Lugar:
Montevideo
Reunión:
Congreso; II Reunión Biología del Comportamiento del Cono Sur; 2019
Institución organizadora:
Reunión de Biología del Comportamiento del Cono Sur
Resumen:
Historically, aggression has been studied in males and it has been linked to androgens as main regulators of this behavior. Despite females from different species also display this behavior, aggression has been usually studied in males and female aggression is still understudied. Recent evidence suggests that the key step regulating aggression involves aromatization to estrogens, but there is still little evidence on this regard. The challenge hypothesis suggests that behavioral interactions lead to an increase in plasma androgen levels in response to social instability. Cichlasoma dimerus is a Neotropical cichlid with bi-parental behavior, in which both males and females show aggressive behavior. The aims of this study were: a) to determine whether there is a relationship between sex steroid levels and intrasexual aggression; b) to perform network correlation analysis of morphometric and hormonal variables in order to get insight into the individual variability in aggressive behavior. Sex steroids were determined in plasma before and after intrasexual dyadic agonistic encounters and morphometric variables were measured. All agonistic interactions were recorded for one hour and aggressive and submissive displays were determined in each animal. Initial estradiol plasma levels can predict aggression in females, but not in males. Moreover, during male encounters there was not only an increase in androgen levels but also in estradiol levels, suggesting that the challenge hypothesis could be extended to estrogens. Finally, network correlation analysis suggests that morphometric and hormonal variables can differentially explain individual aggression not only in males but also in females.