Alternative startle motor patterns and behaviors in the larval zebrafish (Danio rerio)
- Authors
- Liu, Y.C., Bailey, I., and Hale, M.E.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-111025-11
- Date
- 2012
- Source
- Journal of comparative physiology. A, Neuroethology, sensory, neural, and behavioral physiology 198(1): 11-24 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Hale, Melina
- Keywords
- startle, zebrafish, motor control, swimming
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Electric Stimulation/methods
- Larva
- Motor Activity/physiology*
- Nerve Net/physiology
- Physical Stimulation/methods
- Reflex, Startle/physiology*
- Swimming/physiology*
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- PubMed
- 21983742 Full text @ J. Comp. Physiol. A
In fishes, the C-start behavior, initiated with a C-shaped body bend, is a taxonomically common and widely studied escape response. Its simple neural circuit has made this behavior a model for examining neural control of movement. The S-start, initiated with an S-shaped body bend, is a physiologically distinct escape that occurs in esocid fishes. Here we examine whether zebrafish larvae perform S-starts in order to better understand startle diversity and to attempt to identify the S-start in a system that is tractable for neurobiological studies. We found that larval zebrafish startles varied in the extent of their caudal bending, resulting in C, S and intermediate-shaped responses. We recorded two distinct motor patterns: nearly simultaneous initial activity along one side of the body, characteristic of C-starts, and nearly simultaneous activity rostrally on one side and caudally on the other, characteristic of S-starts. Head stimulation generally elicited C-starts while tail stimulation elicited C- and S-starts. These results demonstrate that the S-start is more common than previously documented and occurs in early developmental stages. We suggest that the S-start may be a fundamental escape behavior in fishes and may provide a comparative model to the C-start for understanding simple neural circuits.