Meeting Abstract
Animals can shift from one primary sensory modality to another, when changing environments make the primary modality less useful or reliable. However, such plasticity may come at a cost if it requires also changes to physiology or behavior, or if the environment then changes back again. Sensory shifts may also be less possible in adults or outside of critical developmental periods. Here, we ask about the broader phenotypic impacts of sensory shifts. Specifically, we housed adult zebrafish for six weeks in either constantly-clear water or in water that was periodically turbid (i.e., visually unreliable). We then compared the two groups in terms of their (1) preference for visual versus olfactory cues, (2) response to a visual-motor stimulus used to measure visual physiology, and (3) behavior. We found that fish with experience in the visually-unreliable context had a stronger preference for olfactory as opposed to visual cues, confirming a shift in their primary sensory modality. These fish also responded less robustly in physiological tests, suggesting a more general change in visual-motor behavior. However, latency to respond to visual or chemical cues, plasticity in response to the immediate context in which they were tested, and other behavioral measures (e.g., shoal cohesion, aggression, and activity level) did not differ between treatments. Taken together, these results suggest that experiences in particular physical contexts may have profound effects on the use of different sensory modalities and visual-motor behavior. In addition, shifts between sensory modalities may help animals to buffer other forms of behavior from major changes in the environment.
