Social context shapes individual variation in behavior, learning, and neural gene expression in a swordtail fish

The diverse challenges associated with sociality can be powerful shapers of behavior, yet how sociality affects individual variation in behavior, cognition, and its neural underpinnings is not well understood. Here, we characterized cognitive and behavioral variation as a function of social context in male and female El Abra swordtails (Xiphophorus nigrensis), a species with three genetically-influenced male mating strategies (courtship display, coercion, and mixed strategy). In males, we found that coercive males are bolder but have decreased spatial cognition abilities compared to mixed-strategy and courting males. In females, we conducted a social rearing experiment that exposed females to social treatments that varied in the presence of the type of male mating tactics (coercers only, displayers only, coercers and displayers, and mixed-strategists only). We found that females from complex environments (2 mating tactics present) developed behavioral syndromes characterized by increased boldness and decreased intrasexual aggression relative to females from simple environments (1 mating tactic present). We also found that females from simple environments developed greater spatial cognition abilities than females from simple environments, and that experience with coercion during development led to a greater ability to avoid a coercive male in adulthood. Finally, we found 416 genes were differentially expressed between learners and non-learners after a test of social cognition, as well as 950 genes that were differentially expressed between females from simple and complex rearing environments. Furthermore, we found 640 genes that showed a discordant relationship between learning score and gene expression between females from complex and simple rearing environments. Taken together, these results highlight the power of social context in shaping individual variation in behavior, cognition, and neural gene expression.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Ecology, Evolution and Behavior

Grantor

The University of Texas at Austin

Year dc:date.issued

2024

Author dc:creator

• Queller, Philip Strassmann

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cummings, Molly E.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Ryan, Michael J
• Steve Phelps
• Gil Rosenthal

• Animal personality
• Cognition
• Behavioral syndromes
• Genomics

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.26153/tsw/52722

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repositories.lib.utexas.edu:2152/126185