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. 2024 Oct 11;14(10):e70391.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.70391. eCollection 2024 Oct.

Developmental Social Experience Changes Behavior in a Threatening Environment in Corydoras Catfish

Munir Siddiqui  1 , Austin Chiang  1 , Ethan Lac  1 , Jesse Kern  1 , Gerald Wilkinson  1 , Arne Jungwirth  2 , James Allen  3 , Riva J Riley  1
Affiliations

Developmental Social Experience Changes Behavior in a Threatening Environment in Corydoras Catfish

Munir Siddiqui et al. Ecol Evol. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Coordinated responses to threats are important for predator evasion in many species. This study examines the effect of developmental social experience on antipredator behavior and group cohesion in a highly gregarious catfish that communicates via tactile interaction, Corydoras aeneus. We reared fish either in a mixed-age group of age-matched peers and adult C. aeneus (mixed-age condition, or MAC), or with age-matched peers only (same-age condition, or SAC). A startle test was conducted with small groups of subadults from either social rearing condition. Prior to any startle events, SAC subadults had increased tactile communication compared to MAC subadults, but SAC individuals were overall less active. SAC fish exhibited a stronger antipredator response to startles, and were more likely to freeze or take refuge in cover in response to a startle than MAC fish. MAC fish tended to respond to startle events by maintaining or decreasing their cohesion, whereas SAC fish tended to maintain or increase their cohesion. These behavioral differences are attributed to MAC fish developing with group protection as a result of shoaling with adults, resulting in reduced antipredator responses when reared with adults. This study underscores how social context during development can be critical in shaping how individuals perceive and respond to potential threats in their environment.

Keywords: Corydoras; behavioral ecology; behavioral evolution; developmental social experience; social behavior.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Diagram of a c‐start threat response in Corydoras aeneus larvae.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Data from the baseline period (exploration of the unfamiliar environment). (a) The number of front nudges in MAC versus SAC groups. (b) The cohesion fish seconds in MAC versus SAC groups. (c) Active fish seconds in MAC groups versus SAC groups. (d) Fish seconds wall surfing in MAC versus SAC groups. For all boxplots, the box hinges represent the interquartile range, IQR (first to third quartiles) and whiskers represent 1.5IQR.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The probability of transitioning between cohesion states based on the initial cohesion state and social rearing condition.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The number of c‐start responses at each startle for MAC and SAC groups.
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
(a, b) Number of fish per group, either SAC or MAC condition, that were active 3 s before (a) and after (b) a startle. (c, d) The number of fish per group, either SAC or MAC condition, that were in cover both before (c) and after (d) a startle event.
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
The number of fish per group, either SAC or MAC condition, that exhibited a freeze response after a startle event.
FIGURE A1
FIGURE A1
Time in all possible cohesion configurations in MAC versus SAC fish.
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