Meeting Abstract
Fish must integrate information from multiple sensory systems to mediate adaptive behaviors. Visual, acoustic, and olfactory cues provide contextual information during social interactions, but the role of mechanosensory signals detected by the lateral line system during aggressive behaviors is unknown. The aim of this study was to first characterize the lateral line system of the African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni, and second, to determine the role of mechanoreception during agonistic interactions. The A. burtoni lateral line system is similar to that of many other cichlid fishes, containing lines of superficial neuromasts on the head, trunk, and tail, and mostly narrow canals, with the exception of some wide branches from the infraorbital and preopercular canals. These wider canal portions may enhance mechanoreceptive capabilities on the head, possibly to improve detection of water movements during social behaviors. A. burtoni males actively defend their territories from other males using aggressive behaviors that we classified as non-contact or contact. We pharmacologically and physically ablated the lateral line system prior to forced territorial interactions, and quantified pre-fight and fight behaviors compared to sham-handled fish. During typical aggressive encounters, A. burtoni rely more on non-contact than contact behaviors, but fish lacking mechanoreception used more contact than non-contact behaviors. These ablated fish also spent more time within one body length of each other without performing any aggressive behaviors and were more likely to become submissive than to engage in a territorial fight, suggesting a decrease in fight motivation. To our knowledge, this is the first study to implicate the lateral line system as a mode of communication necessary for agonistic interactions.
