Meeting Abstract
Visual communication is used widely across the animal kingdom to convey crucial information about an animals’ identity, motivation, reproductive status, and sex. Although it is well-demonstrated that auditory and olfactory sensitivity can change with reproductive state, fewer studies have tested for plasticity in the visual system, a surprising fact since courtship and mate choice behaviors in many species are largely dependent on visual displays. Here, we tested for reproductive state-dependent plasticity in the peripheral visual system of a cichlid fish by measuring mRNA expression levels of sex steroid receptors in the eyes of ovulated-gravid, non-ovulated-gravid, and mouth brooding females, and dominant and subordinate males. Ovulated females had higher expression of sex steroid receptors than non-ovulated females, but males had similar expression levels independent of reproductive/social state. After inducing ovulation in females with prostaglandin F2α injections, we examined their reproductive behaviors and expression of sex steroid receptors in the eye. PGF2α -injected females were more responsive to male courtship displays, and had higher expression of sex steroid receptors in the eye than vehicle-injected females. In addition, preliminary studies indicate that PFG2α -injected females have increased activation in the retina when exposed to male courtship displays compared to control and vehicle-injected females. Together, these data indicate that plasticity of the peripheral visual system is dependent on female ovulation status, not overall female gravidity, and provides crucial evidence linking endocrine modulation of visual plasticity to mate choice behaviors in females.
