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The Effect Of Female Priming On Male Betta Splendens, Susan Greene

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Male betta fish are naturally aggressive to attract a mate and defend a territory. This makes them a good model for studying aggression and choice behavior. This study looked at male Betta splendens aggressive nature when impacted by priming with a female and exposure to the SSRI drug fluoxetine. Males in the study received a prime before each choice trial, and the latency for each choice was measured and analyzed. We found no significant differences for preference for a mirror versus a non-mirror trail, or latency for choice for the mirror. However, a significant effect was found for fighting data, …