Background predation risk induces anxiety-like behaviour and predator neophobia in zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: Prey face a major challenge in balancing predator avoidance with other essential activities. In environments with high risk, prey may exhibit neophobia (fear of novelty) due to the increased likelihood of novel stimuli being dangerous. The zebrafish, Danio rerio, is an established model organism for many scientific studies. Although spatial and object neophobia in zebrafish have received previous attention, little is known about the role of background risk in inducing neophobia in zebrafish. Here, we present two experiments using zebrafish to explore whether background predation risk can induce anxiety-like behaviour in a novel environment and neophobic responses when exposed to a novel odour. Over five days, we repeatedly exposed zebrafish to either high background risk in the form of che

SUBMITTER: Thapa H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11499451 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature