AsianScientist (Dec. 8, 2016) – Researchers in Singapore have found that the medaka fish has a unique ‘alarm response’ to a message-bearing chemical that is released when another member of its kind is injured. Their work was published in Scientific Reports.
The medaka fish, a member of the Beloniformes order, is one of the few laboratory-friendly fish to have a response to this type of message-bearing chemical. Called semiochemicals, these chemicals carry information from one animal to another and are considered an anti-predator mechanism. Unlike humans, fish do not wait for visual confirmation of predators but use their keen sense of smell to detect semiochemicals which work by triggering fear.
Dr. Ajay Mathuru from the Yale-NUS College at the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found that the medaka fish has an unusual response to fear—it plays dead. In contrast, the zebrafish, which also has an ‘alarm response,’ does not play dead. Comparing these two types of fish that have a similar, but distinct, alarm response will lend greater insight into how the brain processes information to generate behaviors when danger is felt.
The discovery also has implications for improving our understanding of fear and panic in other animals, including humans. While the triggers for fear may be different for humans, the organization of the fear circuitry could be similar. A greater understanding of such neural circuits may allow scientists to have a better understanding of uncontrolled fear in humans, such as those seen when panic disorders happen.
The article can be found at: Mathuru (2016) Conspecific Injury Raises an Alarm in Medaka.
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Source: Yale-NUS College; Photo: Shutterstock.
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