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Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes

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A special issue of Fishes (ISSN 2410-3888). This special issue belongs to the section "Physiology and Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2023) | Viewed by 7576

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ines Braga Goncalves

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Guest Editor

School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Interests: mate choice; parental care; conflict; cognition; communication

Dr. Ben Ashton

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Guest Editor

School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
Interests: animal cognition; cognitive evolution; individual variation; social intelligence

Dr. Stefan Fischer

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Guest Editor

Konrad Lorenz Institut for Ethology, Savoyenstrasse 1, 1160 Vienna, Austria
Interests: phenotypic plasticity; cooperation; cognition; social behaviour; stress

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The journal Fishes is preparing a Special Issue entitled “Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes”. Fishes are not only the largest but also the most diverse group of vertebrates. Fishes inhabit a wide range of habitats and exhibit remarkable diversity in life history, morphology, physiology, behavior, and ecology. Differences in life history, ecology, and social systems have likely shaped the cognitive abilities of fishes, but our understanding of fish cognition is still limited relative to that of other taxa. Understanding how and why cognition varies within and between species will ultimately help us to understand the selective pressures shaping species and how fishes have adapted to their environments.

The main aim of this Special Issue is to determine the drivers of cognitive variation in fishes, a taxon that is underrepresented in the field of cognition. This Special Issue has a broad scope and will be of interest to researchers studying cognition, behavioral ecology, and evolutionary biology, in fishes and beyond. Papers on the causes and consequences of fish cognition with respect to social system, physiology, and ecology are welcome. In addition, phylogenetic studies, reviews, and meta-analyses are also encouraged.

Dr. Ines Braga Goncalves
Dr. Ben Ashton
Dr. Stefan Fischer
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fishes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

cognition
individual variation
cognitive ecology
cognitive evolution
memory
learning

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Editorial

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4 pages, 192 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes

by Ines Braga Goncalves, Benjamin J. Ashton and Stefan Fischer

Fishes 2023, 8(6), 277; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8060277 - 24 May 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1066

Abstract

Fishes are not only the largest, but also the most diverse group of vertebrates [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

18 pages, 1555 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Estimating Cognitive Ability in the Wild: Validation of a Detour Test Paradigm Using a Cichlid Fish (Neolamprologus pulcher)

by Arne Jungwirth, Anna Horsfield, Paul Nührenberg and Stefan Fischer

Fishes 2024, 9(2), 50; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes9020050 - 27 Jan 2024

Viewed by 1499

Abstract

Cognitive abilities vary within and among species, and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this variation. Two of the most prominent hypotheses regarding the evolution of cognition link increased social and habitat complexity with advanced cognitive abilities. Several studies have tested predictions derived from these two hypotheses, but these were rarely conducted under natural conditions with wild animals. However, this is of particular importance if we aim to link cognitive abilities with fitness-relevant factors to better understand the evolution of cognition. The biggest hurdle to assessing cognition in the wild is to find a suitable setup that is easy to use under field conditions. Here, we set out to evaluate an extremely simple test of cognitive ability for use with a broad range of aquatic animals in their natural habitat. We did so by developing a detour test paradigm in which fish had to detour a clear obstacle to reach a food reward. By altering the difficulty of the task, we confirmed that this setup is a valid test of cognitive abilities in wild groups of a Lake Tanganyika cichlid, Neolamprologus pulcher. Subsequently, we probed specific predictions from the two major hypotheses regarding cognitive evolution using the most difficult test configuration. Specifically, we tested the variation in cognitive abilities among groups of different sizes occupying habitats of varying complexity. We find mixed support for both hypotheses, but we hope that our work inspires future investigations on the evolution of cognition in Lake Tanganyika cichlids. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes)

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17 pages, 1871 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Life-Long Experience with Male Mating Tactics Shapes Spatial Cognition and Coercion Evasion in Female Swordtails

by Philip S. Queller, Elena R. M. Adams and Molly E. Cummings

Fishes 2023, 8(11), 562; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8110562 - 20 Nov 2023

Viewed by 1074

Abstract

Social experiences can shape adult behavior and cognition. Here, we use El Abra swordtails (Xiphophorus nigrensis) to assess how life-long experience with different male mating tactics shapes coercion evasion ability and female spatial cognition. We raised females from birth to adulthood in environments that varied by male mating tactic: coercers only, courtship displayers only, coercers and displayers together, mixed-strategists, and female only. In adulthood, we tested females’ behavioral responses to a coercive male and spatial cognition in a maze. Females reared with only displayers were significantly worse at distancing themselves from the coercive male than females raised with coercers and displayers and females raised with only coercers. Females raised with a single mating tactic (either courtship display or coercion) exhibited significantly higher accuracy in the spatial maze than females from other rearing groups, and showed significant reduction in total errors (courtship display group) or latency to reward (coercion group) over successive trials. These more predictable environments (one tactic), and not the more complex environments (two tactics), showed evidence for spatial learning. The results are discussed in light of the existing literature on two components of environmental change (environmental predictability and the certainty with which cues predict the best behavioral response) and their effect on the development of cognitive abilities. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes)

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11 pages, 1158 KiB

Open AccessArticle

No Sex-Specific Effects of Artificial Selection for Relative Telencephalon Size during Detour Learning and Spatial Discrimination in Guppies (Poecilia reticulata)

by Annika Boussard, Stephanie Edlund, Stephanie Fong, David Wheatcroft and Niclas Kolm

Fishes 2023, 8(11), 536; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8110536 - 26 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1451

Abstract

Over recent decades, substantial research has focused on fish cognitive evolution to increase our understanding of the evolution of the enormous diversity of cognitive abilities that exists in fishes. One important but understudied aspect of cognitive evolution is sexual dimorphism in cognitive abilities. Sex-specific variation in brain region morphology has been proposed to be an important mechanism in this context. However, it is also common to find sex-specific variation in behavior and cognition without associated differences in brain morphology among the sexes. The telencephalon is the major cognitive center in the vertebrate brain and variation in telencephalon size has been associated with variation in cognition. Here, we utilize recently developed guppy artificial selection lines with ca. 10% differences in relative telencephalon size to investigate whether similar responses to selection of the size of this region may affect cognitive abilities differently in males and females. To that end, we compared two ecologically relevant aspects of cognition, detour learning and binary spatial discrimination. We tested the significance of the interaction between telencephalon size and sex, and we found no sex-specific effects of evolutionary increases in telencephalon size in the cognitive abilities tested. This study indicates that no clear cognitive sex-specific effects occur in response to rapid selection of telencephalon size. We suggest that future research on sexual dimorphism in cognitive abilities in fish could use various cognitive tests and examine telencephalic sub-regions to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their evolution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes)

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17 pages, 2171 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantifying the Neural and Behavioral Correlates of Repeated Social Competition in the Fighting Fish Betta splendens

by Solanch Dupeyron and Kelly J. Wallace

Fishes 2023, 8(8), 384; https://doi.org/10.3390/fishes8080384 - 25 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1733

Abstract

The fighting fish Betta splendens, long studied for its aggressive territorial competitions, has the potential to be a tractable and relevant model for studying the intersection of cognitive ecology and social neuroscience. Yet, few studies have comprehensively assessed Betta behavior across both social and nonsocial contexts. Furthermore, the present study is the first to quantify the expression of phosphorylated ribosomal protein S6 (PS6), a proxy for neural response, in the Betta telencephalon. Here, we assessed male Betta behavior across a suite of tasks and found that response to a mirror, but not neophilia (a novel object) nor anxiety (scototaxis), predicted behavior in a social competition. To then explore the cognitive aspects of social competition, we exposed Betta to either a familiar or novel opponent and compared their competitive behavior as well as their neural responses in the teleost homologs of the hippocampus, basolateral amygdala, and lateral septum. We did not detect any differences between familiar-exposed and novel-exposed individuals, but by implementing the first use of a habituation–dishabituation competition design in a study of Betta, we were able to observe remarkable consistency in competitive outcomes across repeated exposures. Taken together, the present study lays the groundwork for expanding the use of Betta to explore integrative and multidimensional questions of social cognition. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Causes and Consequences of Cognitive Variation in Fishes)

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