Alternative startle motor patterns and behaviors in the larval zebrafish (Danio rerio)

In fishes, the C-start behavior, initiated with a C-shaped body bend, is a taxonomically common and widely studied escape response. Its simple neural circuit has made this behavior a model for examining neural control of movement. The S-start, initiated with an S-shaped body bend, is a physiological...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Comparative Physiology 2012, Vol.198 (1), p.11-24
Main Authors: Liu, Yen-Chyi, Bailey, Ian, Hale, Melina E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Physiology
Animals
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Danio rerio
early development
Electric Stimulation - methods
escape behavior
fish
Freshwater
Larva
larvae
Life Sciences
Motor Activity - physiology
Nerve Net - physiology
Neurosciences
Original Paper
Physical Stimulation - methods
Reflex, Startle - physiology
Swimming - physiology
tail
Zebrafish - physiology
Zoology
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Summary:In fishes, the C-start behavior, initiated with a C-shaped body bend, is a taxonomically common and widely studied escape response. Its simple neural circuit has made this behavior a model for examining neural control of movement. The S-start, initiated with an S-shaped body bend, is a physiologically distinct escape that occurs in esocid fishes. Here we examine whether zebrafish larvae perform S-starts in order to better understand startle diversity and to attempt to identify the S-start in a system that is tractable for neurobiological studies. We found that larval zebrafish startles varied in the extent of their caudal bending, resulting in C, S and intermediate-shaped responses. We recorded two distinct motor patterns: nearly simultaneous initial activity along one side of the body, characteristic of C-starts, and nearly simultaneous activity rostrally on one side and caudally on the other, characteristic of S-starts. Head stimulation generally elicited C-starts while tail stimulation elicited C- and S-starts. These results demonstrate that the S-start is more common than previously documented and occurs in early developmental stages. We suggest that the S-start may be a fundamental escape behavior in fishes and may provide a comparative model to the C-start for understanding simple neural circuits.
ISSN:0340-7594
1432-1351
DOI:10.1007/s00359-011-0682-1