Behavior and Ethology Commons^™

Effects Of The Brain Nonapeptides Arginine-Vasotocin And Isotocin On Shoaling Behaviour In The Guppy (Poecilia Reticulata), Babak Ataei Mehr

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Brain nonapeptides have been suggested to regulate social behaviours. However, the contribution of Arginine-Vasotocin (AVT) and Isotocin (IT) to social behaviour in fishes is not well-characterized. Using the guppy (Poecilia reticulata), I first measured association preference for conspecifics in individuals injected with either AVT, an AVT-antagonist, or saline. The time spent associating with conspecifics did not differ significantly among the injection treatments. However, individuals injected with AVT performed more movement among areas of the tank than individuals injected with either the AVT-antagonist or saline, consistent with an effect of AVT on anxiety-related behaviours (i.e. hyperactivity). Second, I measured …