title: Positive taxis and sustained responsiveness to water motions in larval zebrafish.
abstract: Larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) have become favored subjects for studying the neural bases of behavior. Here, we report a highly stereotyped response of zebrafish larvae to hydrodynamic stimuli. It involves positive taxis, motion damping and sustained responsiveness to flows derived from local, non-stressful water motions. The response depends on the lateral line and has a high sensitivity to stimulus frequency and strength, sensory background and rearing conditions--also encompassing increased threshold levels of response to parallel input. The results show that zebrafish larvae can use near-field detection to locate sources of minute water motions, and offer a unique handle for analyses of hydrodynamic sensing, sensory responsiveness and arousal with accurate control of stimulus properties.
authors: Developmental Genetics of the Nervous System, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Antonia H
authors: AH
authors: Groneberg
authors: Developmental Genetics of the Nervous System, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Ulrich
authors: U
authors: Herget
authors: Developmental Genetics of the Nervous System, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Soojin
authors: S
authors: Ryu
authors: Developmental Genetics of the Nervous System, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research Heidelberg, Germany.
authors: Rodrigo J
authors: RJ
authors: De Marco
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D007814:Larva; D053403:Lateral Line System / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D014867:Water; D015027:Zebrafish / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D014867:Water
keywords: behavior; hydrodynamic sensing; larval zebrafish; lateral line; sensory responsiveness