Group size and aquatic vegetation modulates male preferences for female shoals in wild zebrafish, Danio rerio.

ABSTRACT: Shoaling decisions in the wild are determined by a combination of innate preferences of the individual along with the interplay of multiple ecological factors. In their natural habitat as well as in the laboratory, zebrafish is a shoaling fish. Here, we investigate the role of group size and associated vegetation in shaping shoaling preferences of wild male zebrafish. We studied the association preference of males to groups of female shoals in a multi-choice test design. We found that males made greater proportion of visits to an 8-female group compared to 2 and 4-female groups. However, males spent similar proportions of time across the three female-containing groups. When artificial vegetation was incorporated along with female number as an additional factor, we found that males prefer h

SUBMITTER: Ghoshal A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7807030 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature