Prior Experience as a Factor in Habitat Selection by the Cichlid Fish Tilapia mossambica
- 1 October 1975
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 104 (4) , 742-751
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1975)104<742:peaafi>2.0.co;2
Abstract
The African cichlid fish, Tilapia mossambica (Peters), was selected for investigation of the role that prior‐habitat experience may play in determining the choice of a resting habitat by fish. Fish were reared in different habitats and later tested for habitat selection. Three regimes were used (early, late, and continuous). Early‐experience fish experienced a habitat the first 60 days of free‐swimming; late‐experience fish, the last 60 days before testing; and continuous‐experience fish, from the time of free‐swimming to testing. Half of the fish were tested at 4 months and half at 8 months. Each individual was observed for 1 hour during a 2‐day period in an experimental tank, offering a choice of habitats. Early and continuous‐experience fish (both 4 and 8 months) selected the conditioning habitat on the second day in the testing tank as measured by total time and number of habitat visits. Late‐experience fish failed to select the conditioning habitat. Thus early experience (before sexual maturity) is not only a sufficient, but also a necessary, condition for habitat fixation in Tilapia mossambica as judged by short term selection of 2 days. These results are discussed in relation to behavioral activities and the relationship of stress to habitat selection.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: