Sensory processing of communication stimuli is essential for the survival of organisms across all evolutionary branches. Multimodal signaling, the use of multiple sensory systems is crucial in this process, but little is known about the relative importance of different senses used during aggression. We used the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, to test how visual and chemosensory signals in male-male interactions influence behavior. Males of this species exist in a dominance hierarchy, where brightly colored dominant individuals aggressively defend territories for reproductive activities. Focal males were presented with visual and chemosensory signals from other males either alone (unimodal) or together (bimodal). We found that vision is necessary for males to engage in aggressive behaviors such as frontal displays, lateral displays, and border fights. While chemical signals alone did not evoke aggressive behaviors, we find slight reductions of some aggressive behaviors when bimodal stimuli are provided. This study is the first to examine how visual-chemosensory signaling impacts male-male aggressive behavior in A. burtoni and provides insight on how these signaling modalities mediate territorial interactions.
Sensory processing of communication stimuli is essential for the survival of organisms across all evolutionary branches. Multimodal signaling, the use of multiple sensory systems is crucial in this process, but little is known about the relative importance of different senses used during aggression. We used the African cichlid fish, Astatotilapia burtoni, to test how visual and chemosensory signals in male-male interactions influence behavior.
Prey can use several information sources (cues) to assess predation risk and avoid predation with a variety of behavioural responses (e.g., changes in activity, foraging, vigilance, social behaviour, space use, and reproductive behaviour).
New Cornerstone Science Laboratory, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Center for Life Sciences, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China; Institute of Infectious Diseases, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518000, China; Institute of Pathogenic Organisms, Shenzhen Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenzhen 518055, China; Southwest United Graduate School, Kunming 650092, China. Electronic address:
Insects discern the presence of hosts (host plants) by integrating chemosensory, gustatory, and visual cues, with olfaction playing a pivotal role in this process. Among these factors, volatile signals produced by host-associated microbial communities significantly affect insect attraction. Microorganisms are widely and abundantly found on the surfaces of humans, plants, and insects.
Animals with small nervous systems have a limited number of sensory neurons that must encode information from a changing environment. This problem is particularly exacerbated in nematodes that populate a wide variety of distinct ecological niches but only have a few sensory neurons available to encode multiple modalities. How does sensory diversity prevail within this neuronal constraint? To identify the genetic basis for patterning different nervous systems, we demonstrate that sensory neurons in the respond to various salt sensory cues in a manner that is partially distinct from that of the distantly related nematode .
Background: Intranasal trigeminal function is important in detecting environmental stimuli. The impact of age-associated chemosensory dysfunction upon taste and olfaction is well described, but an understanding of trigeminal loss (chemesthesis) is lacking.
Objective: The goal of this study was to characterize trigeminal function in a cohort of older adults and explore potential impacts.
