Teaching Animal Behavior in the Laboratory

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Teaching Animal Behavior in the Laboratory

• An exercise using Betta spendens in an
  introductory zoology class for biology majors and
  nonmajors

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Zoology 111

• A course for biology majors and nonmajors
• Taught in the workshop format
• 24 students per section
• Emphasis on active learning, group work, and
  student-designed research

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• How do animals acquire and use energy for growth?
• How do animals store and transmit genetic
  information?
• How do animals regulate their functions?
• How do animals reproduce?
• How do animals develop?
• How do animals behave?
• How do animals evolve and what are their
  evolutionary relationships?
• Where do animals live and how do they interact
  with their environments?
• What are the different groups of animals and how
  are the similar and different?

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• Integrate information about the basic structures
  and fundamental processes of life
• Use biological principles to explain the
  evolutionary adaptations and evolutionary
  relationships of animals
• Apply your knowledge of zoology to analyze
  problems in animal biology and to propose
  solutions to them

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• Design, implement, interpret, and report the
  results of observations of and experiments with
  animals to test scientific hypotheses
• Analyze and critique news stories that involve
  animals (e.g. stories about invasive animals,
  pest animals, and attempts to save endangered
  animals)

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Agonistic Behavior in Siamese Fighting Fish
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Hypothesis TestingScience and BaseballAlison
GropnikSmall WondersNew York Review of Books

• Imagine if we taught baseball the way we teach
  science

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• Children under 12 would read about baseball
  technique and occasionally hear inspirational
  stories of the great players
• They would take quizzes about rules
• Undergraduates might be allowed, under strict
  supervision, to reproduce famous historic plays
• Only in graduate school would they, at last,
  actually get to play a game

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Hypothesis TestingThe Numbers Game

• Guess the rules
• Propose a number to see if it fits
• Publish a possible rule by describing it to the
  class
• Discuss proposed rules
• Win the Nobel Prize

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1, 2, 4
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Betta splendens

• Brief background on fighting fish
• Explanation of agonistic (not agnostic) behavior
• Agonistic behavior of fighting fish
• Control observations

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Agonistic Stimuli

• Mirror image
• Clay (3-D) model
• Colored index card (2-D) model
• Round robin tournament

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Data Table
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Questions to Answer

• How did the behavior of fish exposed to agonistic
  stimuli change from the control situation?
• Did model shape strongly affect the response of
  the fish? If so, in what way did shape matter?
• Did model color strongly affect the response? If
  so, in what way did color matter?

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Proposals

• Propose a HYPOTHESIS for the agonistic behavior
  of Betta splendens. Recall that a hypothesis is
  a testable explanation of some phenomenon.
• Propose a STUDY (observational or experimental)
  to test your hypothesis. Be sure to provide
  enough detail to enable someone else to perform
  the study.

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Materials

• 1 gallon drum-style fish bowls (3.79 from
  aquariumguys.com)
• Fighting fish (4.00)
• Fighting fish food
• Mirrors
• Modeling Clay or Play-doh
• Colored index cards
• Video clip (youtube.com)

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Useful References

• Simpson MJA 1968 The display of the Siamese
  fighting fish, Betta splendens Anim Behav Monogr
  1173
• Meliska CJ, Meliska JA, Peeke HV 1980 The
  relationship of mirror-elicited display to combat
  behaviors in Betta splendens Behav Neural Biol
  30207217
• Bronstein PM 1984 Agonistic and reproductive
  interactions in Betta splendens J Comp Psychol
  9842131
• Bronstein PM 1985 Predictors of dominance in
  male Betta splendens J Comp Psychol 994755

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More References

• Allen JM, Nicoletto PF 1997 Response of Betta
  splendens to computer animations of males with
  fins of different length Copeia 1997195199
• Halperin JRP, Giri T, Elliot J, Dunham DW 1998
  Consequences of hyper-aggressiveness in Siamese
  fighting fish cheaters seldom prospered Anim
  Behav 558796
• RF Oliveira, McGregor PK, Latruffe C 1998 Know
  thine enemy fighting fish gather information
  from observing conspecific interactions Proc R
  Soc Lond B 26510451049
• Doutrelanta C, McGregora PK, Oliveirab RF 2001
  The effect of an audience on intrasexual
  communication in male Siamese fighting fish,
  Betta splendens Behav Ecol 12283286

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Still More References

• Mcgregor PK, Peake TM, Lampe HM 2001 Fighting
  fish Betta splendens extract relative information
  from apparent interactions what happens when
  what you see isnt what you get Anim Behav
  6210591065
• Matos RJ, McGregor PK 2002 The effect of the
  sex of an audience on male-male displays of
  Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens)
  Behaviour 13912111221
• Clotfelter ED, Paolino AD 2003 Bystanders to
  contests between conspecifics are primed for
  increased aggression in male fighting fish Anim
  Behav 66343347
• Dzieweczynski TL, Bessler AM, Shelton DS, Rowland
  WJ 2006 Effect of a dummy audience on male-male
  interactions in Siamese fighting fish, Betta
  splendens Ethology 112127133