Exploring the Importance of Environmental Complexity for Newly Hatched Zebrafish

Maria Santacà; Elia Gatto; Marco Dadda; Matteo Bruzzone; Marco Dal Maschio; Angelo Bisazza

doi:10.3390/ani14071031

Titel

Exploring the Importance of Environmental Complexity for Newly Hatched Zebrafish

Autor*in

Maria Santacà

Department für Verhaltens- und Kognitionsbiologie, Fakultät für Lebenswissenschaften, Universität Wien

Elia Gatto

Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Science, University of Ferrara

Marco Dadda

Department of General Psychology, University of Padova

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Abstract

The effects of an early impoverished social or physical environment on vertebrate neural development and cognition has been known for decades. While existing studies have focused on the long-term effects, measuring adult cognitive phenotypes, studies on the effects of environmental complexity on the early stages of development are lacking. Zebrafish (Danio rerio) hatchlings are assumed to have minimal interaction with their environment and are routinely reared in small, bare containers. To investigate the effects of being raised under such conditions on development of behaviour and cognition, hatchlings housed for 10 days in either an enriched or a standard environment underwent two cognitive tasks. The results were mixed. Subjects of the two treatments did not differ in performance when required to discriminate two areas. Conversely, we found a significant effect in a number discrimination task, with subjects from impoverished condition performing significantly worse. In both experiments, larvae reared in impoverished environment showed a reduced locomotor activity. Given the effects that enrichment appears to exert on larvae, a third experiment explored whether hatchlings exhibit a spontaneous preference for more complex environments. When offered a choice between a bare setting and one with objects of different shapes and colors, larvae spent over 70% of time in the enriched sector. Deepening these effects of an early impoverished environment on cognitive development is crucial for the welfare of captive zebrafish populations and for enhancing the quality and reliability of studies on larval zebrafish.

Stichwort

animal behaviouranimal cognitiondevelopmental plasticityDanio rerioenvironmental complexity

Objekt-Typ

journal article

Sprache

Englisch [eng]

Persistent identifier

phaidra.univie.ac.at/o:2068043

DOI

10.3390/ani14071031

Erschienen in

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