Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Protocol
  • Published:

Repeated measures of shoaling tendency in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and other small teleost fishes

Nature Protocols volume 1, pages 1828–1831 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

This protocol details a method for constructing and using both a holding tank and a test tank to assess the shoaling tendency of zebrafish and other teleosts. The test tank consists of a central compartment with two side compartments, one of which contains a shoal of stimulus fish. The focal fish is released and the amount of time spent associating with the stimulus shoal is recorded over a 10-min period. A holding tank enables individual fish to be accurately retested with a minimum of stress. Testing takes around 15 min per fish.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1
Figure 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Krause, J. & Ruxton, G. Living in Groups (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2002).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Shaw, E. Schooling fishes. Am. Sci. 66, 166–175 (1978).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Pavlov, D.S. & Kasumyan, A.O. Patterns and mechanisms of schooling behavior in fish: a review. J. Ichthyol. 40, 163–231 (2000).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Wright, D., Ward, A.J.W., Croft, D.P. & Krause, J. Social organization, grouping, and domestication in fish. Zebrafish 3, 141–156 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Darland, T. & Dowling, J.E. Behavioral screening for cocaine sensitivity in mutagenized zebrafish. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98, 11691–11696 (2001).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Nadeau, J.H. & Frankel, W.N. The roads from phenotypic variation to gene discovery: mutagenesis versus QTLs. Nat. Genet. 25, 381–384 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Pitcher, T.J. Heuristic definitions of fish shoaling behaviour. Anim. Behav. 31, 611–612 (1983).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Wright, D., Nakamichi, R., Krause, J. & Butlin, R.K. QTL analysis of behavioural and morphological differentiation between wild and laboratory zebrafish (Danio rerio). Behav. Genet. 36, 271–284 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wright, D., Rimmer, L.B., Pritchard, V.L., Krause, J. & Butlin, R.K. Inter and intra-Population variation in shoaling and boldness in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Naturwissenschaften 90, 374–377 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. McCann, L.I. & Matthews, J.J. The effects of lifelong isolation on species identification in zebrafish (Brachydanio rerio). Dev. Psychobiol. 7, 159–163 (1974).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Robison, B.D. & Rowland, W. A potential model system for studying the genetics of domestication: behavioral variation among wild and domesticated strains of zebrafish (Danio rerio). Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 62, 2046–2054 (2005).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Pitcher, T.J. & Parrish, J.K. Functions of shoaling behaviour in teleosts. In Behaviour of Teleost Fishes (ed. Pitcher TJ) 363–439 (London, Chapman & Hall, 1993).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  13. Pritchard, V.L., Lawrence, J., Butlin, R.K. & Krause, J. Shoal choice in zebrafish (Danio rerio): the influence of shoal size and activity. Anim. Behav. 62 (2001).

  14. Sokal, R.R. & Rohlf, F.J. Biometry 3rd edn.NewYork, WH Freeman and Company, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biochemistry and Microbiology, Uppsala University, Box 597, Uppsala, SE-751 24, Sweden

    Dominic Wright

  2. Faculty of Biological Sciences, Institute for Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Jens Krause

Authors
  1. Dominic Wright
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jens Krause
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens Krause.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Wright, D., Krause, J. Repeated measures of shoaling tendency in zebrafish (Danio rerio) and other small teleost fishes. Nat Protoc 1, 1828–1831 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.287

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.287

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing