Meeting Abstract

P2.29  Monday, Jan. 5  The potential for disruption of aggressive behavior in female by environmental estrogens TODD, Nancy E.*; MONTELLO, Maxine; Manhattanville College; Manhattanville College toddn@mville.edu

The Siamese Fighting Fish, Betta splendens is a popular aquarium fish, and is known for its aggressive behavior. Males cannot be kept more than one to a tank, but many hobbyists and pet stores keep multiple females together, not thinking they are very aggressive. Recent research at Manhattanville suggests otherwise, that females are just as aggressive as the males of the species, and will actively defend their territory. In the wild, these fish live in flooded rice paddies and other stagnant bodies of water in Asia, environments that are potentially susceptible to contamination with chemicals containing estrogenic compounds such as pesticides, waste chemicals from factories, and other non-point sources. The effects of these estrogens on aggressive behavior is studied here. Female Betta splendens were exposed to 2.5ul of 17B estradiol for 28 days to evaluate the effect on their aggressive behavior. Females were visually exposed to male and female controls for behavioral observation pre-treatment, 28 days after treatment, and 28 days after treatment was ended. The control females showed no difference in behavior before and after treatment, but females treated with 17B estradiol exhibited a statistically significant difference before and after treatment and 28 days after treatment ceased. All observed behaviors differed in frequency, not just a few. This indicates that environmental estrogens can decrease aggression in females, and can ultimately affect their dominance hierarchy and reproductive success.