Presentation Details
Who are you and what are you doing? Response to social information in a cooperatively breeding fish

Kitt W.Kroeger, Ian M.Hamilton.

The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

Abstract


In hierarchical groups where individuals have different ranks and thus different resource access, rank is likely to influence who is watched and learned from. The cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher forms dominance hierarchies largely based on size. Attention should be paid to higher ranked fish so that an individual can modulate their behavior to reduce aggression. We hypothesized that individuals would change their behavior more after the opportunity to watch a higher ranked individual versus a lower ranked. To test this, we performed a series of shelter choice experiments. First, a focal individual was allowed to observe two shelters with one occupied by a familiar demonstrator. Demonstrators were either of higher or lower rank. The demonstrator was removed and the focal allowed to access both shelters. We found that observers used the area around shelters demonstrated by dominant females more frequently than expected, indicating they paid attention. When demonstrators were lower ranked, both shelters were used less frequently. Low ranked individuals could indicate poor shelter quality or non-group territory; thus an individual may prefer to avoid that area.

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