title: Spatial cognition in zebrafish: the role of strain and rearing environment.
abstract: Two strains of zebrafish, WIK and a second-generation wild strain were reared in either a structurally simple or complex environment and compared in their ability to locate a food reward in a five-chambered maze. There was a significant interaction within subjects between rearing environment and trial, indicating that the consistency of learning varied depending on rearing environment, with those reared in a structurally simple environment showing a slower rate of learning. Fish of both strains reared in a structurally complex environment were smaller than those reared in a simple environment. Our study demonstrates, for the first time in zebrafish, that performance in a learning task as an adult is sensitive to rearing conditions during development.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, University of St. Andrews, Fife, UK. rs90@st-andrews.ac.uk
authors.forename: Rowena
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spence
authors.forename: Anne E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Magurran
authors.forename: Carl
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition; D006799:Housing, Animal; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013045:Species Specificity; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology