Cichlid fish fight for dominance and territory, the fights are thought to be regulated by androgens, and these interactions play an important role in the communication among cichlid fish. in this study male "observer fish" were laced in isolation for 7 days, in order to regulate hormones then were allowed to watch conspecifics over a course of 3 days. Hormones were taken from urine and showed that andorgens were produced by just watching two other males fight. I thought this was an interesting article because I wanted to look at ways of communication (hormones) and types of animals (fish) that havent' really been disussed too often. Below is a direct quote from the article. ----GINA FORTUNATO
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
watching fights raises fish hormone levels
http://draco.unine.ch/webdav/site/ethol/shared/Oliveiraetal2001Nature.pdf
Cichlid fish fight for dominance and territory, the fights are thought to be regulated by androgens, and these interactions play an important role in the communication among cichlid fish. in this study male "observer fish" were laced in isolation for 7 days, in order to regulate hormones then were allowed to watch conspecifics over a course of 3 days. Hormones were taken from urine and showed that andorgens were produced by just watching two other males fight. I thought this was an interesting article because I wanted to look at ways of communication (hormones) and types of animals (fish) that havent' really been disussed too often. Below is a direct quote from the article. ----GINA FORTUNATO
"motivation of indi- viduals to adjust to changes in their social environment; androgen production is itself determined by sexual status and by social contacts among conspecifics"
Cichlid fish fight for dominance and territory, the fights are thought to be regulated by androgens, and these interactions play an important role in the communication among cichlid fish. in this study male "observer fish" were laced in isolation for 7 days, in order to regulate hormones then were allowed to watch conspecifics over a course of 3 days. Hormones were taken from urine and showed that andorgens were produced by just watching two other males fight. I thought this was an interesting article because I wanted to look at ways of communication (hormones) and types of animals (fish) that havent' really been disussed too often. Below is a direct quote from the article. ----GINA FORTUNATO
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It is interesting to finally find some information on communication using chemical signals. Are androgens in fish the same as testosterone levels in humans? Do you think that these increasing androgen levels caused from observing fights can be paralleled to the reaction humans have to observing fights (ex. boxing, wrestling, a typical fight)?
ReplyDeleteHow exactly do these androgens help fish communicate? What messages do these hormones give off to other fish? Is there any relationship between hormone release and mate/ territory success?
^ Previous comment posted by Tiffany Mallet
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. Just to clarify, the androgen levels of the males increase by watching other males fight? It's kind of a funny image, to think of these frogs getting "pumped up" by fighting (androgens are the original anabolic steroids, for anyone who doesn't know). Arnold Froginator? Anyone?
ReplyDeleteDoes the article happen to mention anything about the female hormone levels if they are exposed to these testosterone tournaments?
- Deysha Rivera
Chemical signals seem to be an important part of communication. Are there separate chemicals for different signals? Or do the fish only use chemical signals when it comes to dominance, aggression, and territory protection? If they don't use chemical signals, what other sort of signals do they use for non-fighting purposes?
ReplyDeletePosted by Bethany Rappleyea
this is an interesting article, considering that there aren't many animals thats use hormone to communicate that are usually talked about. are the fished that were observed to produce androgen when they saw two other males fight more aggressive?
ReplyDeletePosted by vanessa raphael
This was a really interesting study. What other ways do the androgens affect the fish, besides the fish producing more after a fight? When the fish fight, do they produce more androgens then just observing?
ReplyDeletePosted by Heather Gore
I heard it is good for betas to be stimulated with another fish to fight with, even if it is out in a different bowl. I never knew why. Is this observed on all fish? Good topic, it is interesting to learn about chemical communication.
ReplyDelete-Alyson Paige
in response to Tiffany-
ReplyDeletethe androgen levels increased when just watching the fight, i chose this article cause i have also read studies about humans testosterone increasing when watching a wrestling match or sports game. i thought it was a very interesting parallel between humans and fish, who would've thought, fish behaviors are actually very interesting and fish are often overlooked. even some people still consider themselves vegetarians although they eat fish, shows how overlooked they are as an animal..
recently there have also been studies showing that humans testosterone increases watching football games, and actually increases at a higher rate when that persons team (whom they were rooting for) wins.
thought that was very interesting..
-gina fortunato