Sex differences in aggression and its neural substrate in a cichlid fish.

Aggression is ubiquitous among social species and can function to maintain social dominance hierarchies. The African cichlid fish Astatotilapia burtoni is an ideal study species for studying aggression due to their dominance hierarchy and robust behavioral repertoire. To further understand the potential sex differences in aggression in this species, we characterized aggression in male and female A.

Sex differences in aggression and its neural substrate in a cichlid fish.

Aggression is ubiquitous among social species and functions to maintains social dominance hierarchies. The African cichlid fish is an ideal study species for studying aggression due to their unique and flexible dominance hierarchy. However, female aggression in this species and the neural mechanisms of aggression in both sexes is not well understood.