Date of Award

Fall 12-14-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Marine Science

College

College of Science

First Advisor

Eric Rosch

Abstract/Description

Many organisms, especially fish, participate in herding or schooling behaviors for various benefits such as increased survival rates, better hydrodynamic efficiency, or for hunting tactics. Due to being in a tightly packed group, disturbances or predation in their environment can result in group behavioral changes. Fish release hormones into surrounding water through excretions like urine because of a disturbance which may affect their surrounding conspecifics. In this experiment a lone mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) was exposed to a water sample from other conspecifics who were stressed through harassment. Physical behavioral changes such as changes in swimming activity, respiration rates and position in the tank were observed and recorded. Overall, the lone individual had a significant increase in behavioral changes when exposed to water containing conspecifics stress hormones. All the parameters of behavior change that were looked at had an increase in occurrence from the control to experimental trials. Analyzing the significance of these behavioral changes will lead to conclusions about the importance of chemical cues in not only a fish’s lifestyle, but also other species that have schooling or herding behaviors. Learning more about the behavioral stress responses for harassment will lead to important findings in this world with growing industrialization where humans are increasingly encountering wild animals and disturbing them.

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