Howdy Neighbor! The Behavioral Variation Between Neighboring Stickleback (Gasterosteus

aculeatus) Populations. Sydney LaStella Reed College Bio 342

“The specific ecological constraints acting in a novel environment could directly affect the benefits associated with expressing a given behaviour.” [1]

The Reed College Canyon Pond and Ritmanis Pond present two ecosystems potentially differing in water quality, organisms present, and a number of other variables.

Experimental Design: Sets of stickleback behavior were sampled and recorded. The statistical significance of their behavioral differences were tested. Threespine Sticklebacks from each ecosystem were tested for:

Hypothesis: Ecological conditions cause behavioral divergences between stickleback from the Reed Canyon Pond and those from Ritmanis Pond.

Boldness: •  Response to

food when scared

Sociability: •  Time spent

alone •  Group number

preference

Threat response: •  Spine Raising

and Lowering latency

•  Flee distance

Fish Obtained using cage

traps

Holding tanks set, Preliminary

observations recorded

Boldness experiment set up, Acclimation

period

Boldness sampled in 4 fish from each pond

Threat Response tested in same 8

fish

Sociability experiment set

up Acclimation

Period

Sociability behavior

sampled in 6 fish from each

pond

Fish measured and

photographed Fish returned to natural habitat

Results: While there was no significant difference in attack response between populations, the difference in boldness between each population was statistically significant, as were the differences in sociability of each population.

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Time%(secon

ds)%

Fish%Number%

Time%Spent%Alone%

Conclusion: The behaviors between each set of fish vary based on their ecological origin.

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Spine&Ra

ise&(secon

ds)&

Fish&Number&

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Latency(Time((s)(

Fish(Number(

Food"Approach"Time"

Return"Latency"

The factors which affect each behavior within populations are still unknown.

Future Directions: •  Similar experiments executed with larger sample sizes •  Similar experiments executed in a more controlled environment •  Behavioral analyses measuring conspecific aggression •  Water quality testing of each ecosystem

References: 1.  Di-Poi C, Lacasse J, Rogers SM, Aubin-Horth N (2014) Extensive Behavioural Divergence

following Colonisation of the Freshwater Environment in Threespine Sticklebacks. PLoS ONE 9(6): e98980. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0098980

2.  Teather K, Parrott J (2006) Assessing the chemical sensitivity of freshwater fish commonly used in toxicological studies. Water Quality Research Journal of Canada 41(1): 100-105.

3.  Spence R, et al. (2013) Ecological causes of morphological evolution in three-spined Stickleback. Ecology and Evolution 3(6): 1717-1726.

4.  Symons, P. E. K., (1966) Analysis of spine-raising in the male three-spined stickleback. Behavior 14: 1-75.