Meeting Abstract

P1.104  Sunday, Jan. 4  Short-term Environmental Experience Alters the Visual Acuity of Adult Zebrafish. WEEDMAN, J.M.*; NAVA, S.S.; MARTINS, E.P.; Indiana University and the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior; Indiana University and the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior; Indiana University and the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior jaweedma@indiana.edu

Visual plasticity is a mechanism by which the visual system is able to change or adjust in response to the environment. For fish, environmental factors such as water turbidity, light quality and intensity, and habitat structure can greatly influence overall performance of visual function. A growing body of evidence has shown that during early development the fish visual system can exhibit considerable plasticity and that the adult visual system tends to be less plastic and fairly fixed in maturity. Here, we tested for plasticity of the adult visual system. We tested the effects of short-term visual experience on the visual performance of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio). Specifically, we measured visual acuity from adult zebrafish, exposed the fish to one of two visual treatments (complex and simple) for eight days, and finally re-measured and compared the visual performance from all fish. We found that while the visual acuity of adult fish that experienced a simple visual background changed very little, the visual acuity of adult fish that experienced a complex visual background significantly improved. Specific results and data will be discussed. Our findings suggest that the adult visual system is much more plastic than commonly thought and that researchers interested in the effects of environmental factors on vision related tasks, such as foraging, predator/prey detection, communication, should take into consideration the effects of visual plasticity in the adult visual system.