van Breukelen Natalie April, Snekser Jennifer L, Itzkowitz Murray
La Paz Community School, Playa Flamingo , Guanacaste , Costa Rica.
LIU Post, Department of Biology , Brookville, NY , USA.
PeerJ. 2015 May 7;3:e949. doi: 10.7717/peerj.949. eCollection 2015.
The convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata) has been extensively examined in relation to many behavioral topics, such as courtship, pair-bonding, bi-parental care, and territoriality. Recently, this model species has been utilized in studies on genetics, endocrinology, and neuroanatomy, with an ultimate goal of connecting behavior with its underlying mechanisms. The goal of this study was two-fold: (1) profile the circulating levels of plasma 11KT in the male convict cichlid at multiple points during the reproductive cycle and (2) generally compare the hormonal profiles of the widely used laboratory populations and those of a free-living population in the streams of Costa Rica. The results of the field experiment showed that male convict cichlids had higher levels of circulating 11KT during courtship and lower during the parental care and non-breeding phases. The profile of the laboratory population was similar to the profile of the free-living individuals, with significantly higher levels of 11KT occurring during courtship than during parental care, though the level of 11KT during non-breeding phase was elevated in the laboratory. The high levels of 11KT during courtship and low levels of 11KT during parental care found in both the field and the laboratory is similar to what has been reported in other species of teleosts, and may suggest an important function of 11KT in the expression of courtship behavior and the subsequent onset of parental behaviors in this model species.
关于许多行为主题，如求偶、配对、双亲抚育和领地行为等，人们对 convict 丽鱼（Amatitlania nigrofasciata）进行了广泛研究。最近，这个模式物种已被用于遗传学、内分泌学和神经解剖学研究，其最终目标是将行为与其潜在机制联系起来。本研究的目标有两个：（1）描绘雄性 convict 丽鱼在生殖周期多个时间点的血浆 11KT 循环水平；（2）总体比较广泛使用的实验室种群与哥斯达黎加溪流中自由生活种群的激素水平。野外实验结果表明，雄性 convict 丽鱼在求偶期间血浆 11KT 循环水平较高，而在双亲抚育和非繁殖阶段较低。实验室种群的激素水平变化情况与自由生活个体相似，求偶期间 11KT 水平显著高于双亲抚育期间，不过实验室中非繁殖阶段的 11KT 水平有所升高。在野外和实验室中均发现求偶期间 11KT 水平较高，双亲抚育期间 11KT 水平较低，这与其他硬骨鱼类物种的报道相似，可能表明 11KT 在该模式物种的求偶行为表达及随后双亲行为的启动中具有重要作用。
