TY - JOUR
T1 - The Tagging Procedure of Visible Implant Elastomers Influences Zebrafish Individual and Social Behavior
AU - Ruberto, Tommaso
AU - Clément, Romain J.G.
AU - Spinello, Chiara
AU - Neri, Daniele
AU - MacRì, Simone
AU - Porfiri, Maurizio
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers CMMI-1433670 and CMMI-1505832, the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse under grant number 1R21DA042558-01A1, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research that co-funded the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grant numbers CMMI-1433670 and CMMI-1505832, the National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse under grant number 1R21DA042558-01A1, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research that co-funded the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant. The authors are grateful to Jiazheng Wu for his help in performing the experiments, to Dr. Shinnosuke Nakayama for his insightful discussions in the interpretation of our findings, and to Rana El Khoury for her precious assistance in the data analysis. Datasets and codes used in the analyses are stored at the authors’ home institution and will be provided on request.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.
PY - 2018/10
Y1 - 2018/10
N2 - One commonly used method to preserve individual identity in the study of social behavior of zebrafish is through silicone-based visible implant elastomers (VIEs), which represent a safe and durable tagging procedure. While the effects of VIE tagging on welfare and general health have been addressed in detail, whether this procedure influences social behavior remains unclear. In this study, we compared individual and group behaviors exhibited by shoals composed of three individuals: two nontagged and one (focal subject) that was either nontagged (control condition) or sham-, purple-, blue-, or yellow tagged. Traditional behavioral parameters of activity, shoaling, and schooling (speed, polarization, and interindividual distances), along with an information-theoretic measure of social interaction (transfer entropy), were used to study the effect of tagging. Our findings indicate that tagging procedure per se significantly increased individual speed of the tagged subjects and of the group. The tagging procedure also altered the level of interaction between individuals, measured by transfer entropy. Conversely, tagging procedure did not influence shoaling and schooling tendencies. These findings suggest that VIE tagging may elicit some level of stress, which may affect some behavioral responses more than others. We recommend use of alternative methods such as multitracking systems when possible.
AB - One commonly used method to preserve individual identity in the study of social behavior of zebrafish is through silicone-based visible implant elastomers (VIEs), which represent a safe and durable tagging procedure. While the effects of VIE tagging on welfare and general health have been addressed in detail, whether this procedure influences social behavior remains unclear. In this study, we compared individual and group behaviors exhibited by shoals composed of three individuals: two nontagged and one (focal subject) that was either nontagged (control condition) or sham-, purple-, blue-, or yellow tagged. Traditional behavioral parameters of activity, shoaling, and schooling (speed, polarization, and interindividual distances), along with an information-theoretic measure of social interaction (transfer entropy), were used to study the effect of tagging. Our findings indicate that tagging procedure per se significantly increased individual speed of the tagged subjects and of the group. The tagging procedure also altered the level of interaction between individuals, measured by transfer entropy. Conversely, tagging procedure did not influence shoaling and schooling tendencies. These findings suggest that VIE tagging may elicit some level of stress, which may affect some behavioral responses more than others. We recommend use of alternative methods such as multitracking systems when possible.
KW - Danio rerio
KW - identification
KW - social behavior
KW - tagging
KW - visible implant elastomer
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U2 - 10.1089/zeb.2018.1616
DO - 10.1089/zeb.2018.1616
M3 - Article
C2 - 30070967
AN - SCOPUS:85054443653
SN - 1545-8547
VL - 15
SP - 433
EP - 444
JO - Zebrafish
JF - Zebrafish
IS - 5
ER -