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Measuring Agonistic Behavior in Zebrafish

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Zebrafish Neurobehavioral Protocols

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 51))

Abstract

Adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) are territorial, show aggressive behavior, and establish dominant-subordinate hierarchies. Here, a protocol for a standard opponent setup is described, which enables the identification, characterization, and quantification of agonistic activities of zebrafish. Following a period of social isolation, zebrafish are placed into an observation tank, engage in an agonistic encounter, and establish a dominance hierarchy within 15 min. The analysis of the behavior includes quantification of activities such as lateral display, frontal display, chasing and nipping over the course of the observational period with the help of The Observer® program. As a result, an event plot and a histogram are generated, which show the dynamics of agonistic activities. The described method can be used to quantify the effects of drug treatment or to identify modified activity patterns in mutant zebrafish.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by grants form DePauw University (DPU) and William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ). The following students participated in the project: Adriane Brown (WPUNJ), Kim Eliasz (WPUNJ), Meral Karakoc (WPUNJ), and Paul Porter (DPU).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, DePauw University, Greencastle, IN, USA

    Henning Schneider

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  1. Henning Schneider
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Neuroscience Program, Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University, Tulane Ave. 1430, New Orleans, 70112, Louisiana, USA

    Allan V. Kalueff

  2. Neuroscience Program, Department of Pharmacology, Tulane University, Tulane Ave. 1430, New Orleans, 70112, Louisiana, USA

    Jonathan M. Cachat

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Schneider, H. (2011). Measuring Agonistic Behavior in Zebrafish. In: Kalueff, A., Cachat, J. (eds) Zebrafish Neurobehavioral Protocols. Neuromethods, vol 51. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-953-6_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-953-6_10

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-60761-952-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-60761-953-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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