The effects of 17α-ethinyloestradiol on boldness and its relationship to decision making in male Siamese fighting fish

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

“…The behavioral correlations found across contexts in combination with the fairly high repeatability scores found for some of the behavioral measures in the assays (Table 2) demonstrate that a given female remains consistent in her level of activity in relation to other females both over repeated encounters of the same situation, albeit over a fairly short time period, as well as over multiple contexts. The strength of the behavioral syndrome appears weaker in females than in males of this species, as a previous study found higher repeatability values and stronger correlations than those found in the present study (Hebert et al, 2014). Levels of aggression and boldness are related in males (Hebert et al, 2014) and the stronger syndrome in males than females may be a byproduct of artificial selection for aggression in males.…”

“…The strength of the behavioral syndrome appears weaker in females than in males of this species, as a previous study found higher repeatability values and stronger correlations than those found in the present study (Hebert et al, 2014). Levels of aggression and boldness are related in males (Hebert et al, 2014) and the stronger syndrome in males than females may be a byproduct of artificial selection for aggression in males. Sex differences in behavioral syndromes have recently been found in zebrafish where females have higher activity levels and respond more consistently than males (Tran and Gerlai, 2013).…”

“…We are unaware of any study that examined either EE2 effects or behavioral syndromes in female Siamese fighting fish. The purpose of the current study was to examine a) whether a behavioral syndrome for boldness exists in female Siamese fighting fish and b) if boldness in different contexts is influenced by EE2 exposure, as was recently found for males of this species (Hebert et al, 2014). Given the occurrence of a behavioral syndrome in male Siamese fighting fish and the ubiquity of a boldness behavioral syndrome in fishes (Sih et al, 2004), we predicted that a similar behavioral syndrome for boldness across contexts would be present in adult females.…”

Dose-dependent fluoxetine effects on boldness in male Siamese fighting fish

“…repeatability) and that a given male would exhibit a similar level of boldness across assays (i.e. behavioral syndrome), as was previously found in this species (Hebert et al, 2014). Finally, as fluoxetine likely exerts greater effects at higher doses, it was expected that males in the 5 µg l −1 fluoxetine dose group would show more dramatic reductions in overall behavior and behavioral consistency than males in the 0.5 µg l −1 fluoxetine group.…”

“…Siamese fighting fish of the veil-tail strain are an ideal subject for ecotoxicology studies using behavioral endpoints because they have well-defined behaviors (Simpson, 1968), consistent individual variation in multiple behaviors including boldness (e.g. Dzieweczynski and Hebert, 2012;Hebert et al, 2014), and few studies have examined the effects of PPCPs on fish from tropical regions (Brooks, 2014). Fluoxetine injected intramuscularly did not alter aggression levels in male Siamese fighting fish in one study (Clotfelter et al, 2007), but decreased aggression in another study (Kania et al, 2012), perhaps because of differences in the type of aggressive stimulus used and duration of exposure.…”