Social Modulation of Sex Steroid Concentrations in the Urine of Male Cichlid FishOreochromis mossambicus

Oliveira, Rui Filipe; Almada, Vítor Carvalho; Canário, Adelino V. M.

doi:10.1006/hbeh.1996.0002

Cited by 182 publications

(131 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…major reduction in circulating androgen levels further supports a key role for androgens produced in the testis in the linkage between gonadal maturation and the expression of reproductive behavior. The lack of effects of castration on aggressive behaviors apparently contrasts with previous studies in this species where circulating androgens have been shown to be correlated with dominant behavior (Oliveira et al, 1996) and to mediate experiencedependent effects on male competitive behavior . However, these apparently contradictory results can be explained by androgens playing either a mediator or a moderator role in the regulation of aggressive behavior, since only a mediator role would predict androgens to be necessary and sufficient.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…In our lab we have been using the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) as a model to study the neuroendocrinology of social behavior. In this species androgens respond to social interactions (Oliveira et al, 1996) and socially driven changes in androgens moderate the expression of both secondary sex characters (Oliveira and Almada, 1998) and male-male competitive behavior (i.e. winner effect, Oliveira et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Castration affects reproductive but not aggressive behavior in a cichlid fish

Almeida

Canário

Oliveira

2014

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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a b s t r a c tGonads are the main source of sex steroids, which have been implicated in the regulation of sexually differentiated behavior, such as reproductive and aggressive displays. In the Mozambique tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus) territorial males have higher androgen levels than non-territorials, express reproductive behavior and use a urine-borne pheromone to signal their social status towards conspecifics. Here we investigated the effects of gonadectomy on the circulating levels of androgens and cortisol, and on the expression of aggressive and reproductive behavior (nest building, courtship behavior, and nuptial coloration). Males were either castrated, urine bladder damaged, or sham-operated and visually exposed to a group of females during 8 consecutive days and subsequently to a male on day 9. The urine bladder damaged treatment was included in the experimental design because a full castration procedure in this species causes quite often damage to the urine bladder. Gonadectomy lowers dramatically the circulating levels of androgens measured at 4 and 8 days post-castration and abolishes the expression of nest building, courtship behavior and nuptial coloration, but has no effect on the expression of aggressive behavior. These results confirm the gonads as the main source of androgens in this species and show that androgens are necessary for the expression of reproductive behaviors. However, the expression of aggressive behavior seems to be decoupled from gonadal steroids, namely androgens, suggesting the action of independent central mechanisms.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Castration affects reproductive but not aggressive behavior in a cichlid fish

Almeida

Canário

Oliveira

2014

General and Comparative Endocrinology

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“…In contrast, if androgen levels were a response to the acquired social status it would be predicted that only after group formation the correlation between androgen levels and social status would be present. Oliveira et al (1996) found that the latter hypothesis was the one supported by the data, which showed a lack of correlation between the androgen levels (both T and KT) prior to group formation and the social status achieved, but strong correlations between androgen levels (both T and KT) measured after group formation and the acquired social status.…”

Section: Androgen Levels Territorial Intrusions and Social Status Acmentioning

confidence: 74%

“…In trying to disentangle these two hypotheses Oliveira et al (1996) computed correlations between androgen levels and a social dominance index before and after group formation in the cichlid fish Oreochromis mossambicus. The rationale behind this experiment was that if androgen levels are the determining factors of social status acquisition then it would be expected that androgen levels before group formation would be good predictors of the social status that the individuals would acquire after group formation.…”

Section: Androgen Levels Territorial Intrusions and Social Status Acmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social modulation of androgen levels in male teleost fish

Oliveira

Hirschenhauser

Carneiro

et al. 2002

Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry an

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Androgens are classically thought of as the sex steroids controlling male reproduction. However, in recent years evidence has accumulated showing that androgens can also be affected by the interactions between conspecifics, suggesting reciprocal interactions between androgens and behaviour. These results have been interpreted as an adaptation for individuals to adjust their agonistic motivation and to cope with changes in their social environment. Thus, malemale interactions would stimulate the production of androgens, and the levels of androgens would be a function of the stability of its social environment w'challenge hypothesis', Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 56 (1984) 417x. Here the available data on social modulation of androgen levels in male teleosts are reviewed and some predictions of the challenge hypothesis are addressed using teleosts as a study model. We investigate the causal link between social status, territoriality and elevated androgen levels and the available evidence suggests that the social environment indeed modulates the endocrine axis of teleosts. The association between higher androgen levels and social rank emerges mainly in periods of social instability. As reported in the avian literature, in teleosts the trade-off between androgens and parental care is indicated by the fact that during the parental phase breeding males decreased their androgen levels. A comparison of androgen responsiveness between teleost species with different mating and parenting systems also reveals that parenting explains the variation observed in androgen responsiveness to a higher degree than the mating strategy. Finally, the adaptive value of social modulation of androgens and some of its evolutionary consequences are discussed. ᮊ

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“…hauser and Oliveira, 2000; lizards: Thompson and Moore, 1992; but see Houck and Woodley, 1995;teleosts: Cardwell and Liley, 1991;Pankhurst and Barnett, 1993;Oliveira et al, 1996Oliveira et al, , 2001cOliveira et al, , 2002mammals: Cavigelli and Pereira, 2000;Nunes et al, 2000; but see Creel et al 1993). Only the change to extremely high paternal investment (i.e., paternal incubation among the altricial passerines) contributed to the evolution of different androgen response rates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparative analysis of male androgen responsiveness to social environment in birds: the effects of mating system and paternal incubation

Hirschenhauser¹,

Winkler²,

Oliveira³

2003

Hormones and Behavior

138

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Male androgen responses to social challenges have been predicted to vary with mating system, male-male aggressiveness, and the degree of paternal investment in birds ("challenge hypothesis," Am. Nat. 136 (1990), 829). This study focused on the interspecific predictions of the challenge hypothesis. Comparative methods were used to control for effects of the phylogenetic relatedness among the sampled species. Male androgen data of 84 bird species were collected from literature records on seasonal androgen patterns. From these, the androgen responsiveness (AR) was calculated as described in the original challenge hypothesis (i.e., maximum physiological level/breeding baseline). Scatterplots of AR versus mating strategy, male-male aggressiveness, and the degree of paternal care confirmed the expected interspecific patterns. When phylogenetic analyses were performed among all of the sampled species, the effects of paternal investment disappeared while the AR remained covarying to a high degree with mating system and male-male aggressiveness. Although these mechanisms may be different at the intraspecific level, this suggests that interspecific differences of AR in male birds may have evolved in response to changes of mating strategies, rather than in response to altered paternal duties. However, control for phylogeny among the subsample of 32 passerine species revealed that if any paternal investment contributed to the observed variance in AR, then the change from "no male incubation" to "male shares incubation duties" represented the most effective, whereas the male's contribution to feeding offspring did not explain the observed variation of AR.

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Social Modulation of Sex Steroid Concentrations in the Urine of Male Cichlid FishOreochromis mossambicus

Cited by 182 publications

References 54 publications

Castration affects reproductive but not aggressive behavior in a cichlid fish

Castration affects reproductive but not aggressive behavior in a cichlid fish

Social modulation of androgen levels in male teleost fish

Comparative analysis of male androgen responsiveness to social environment in birds: the effects of mating system and paternal incubation

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