title: Tributyltin affects shoaling and anxiety behavior in female rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus).
abstract: Effects of tributyltin (TBT) on reproduction are well established in many fish species. However, few studies report the effects of TBT on non-reproductive behaviors, which is a novel aspect of endocrine disruption in fish. Thus, the present study used rare minnow (Gobiocypris rarus) to investigate the effects of TBT, at environmental concentrations of 1, 10 and 100ng/L, on shoaling and anxiety behaviors. The results showed that fish exposed to TBT had less group cohesion during the course of the 10-min observation period as compared with the control fish. Further, TBT altered the shoaling in the Novel tank test, where shoaling is determined as the tendency to leave a shoal of littermates trapped behind a Plexiglas barrier at one end of the test tank. Fish exposed to TBT had shorter latency before leaving shoal mates and spent more time away from shoal than control fish. In addition, we also used Novel tanks to study the anxiety behavior as the tendency to stay at the bottom when introduced into an unfamiliar environment. The fish exposed to TBT showed increased anxiety, manifested as increased latency to enter the upper half and decreased time in upper half when compared with the control fish. TBT exposure increased the levels of dopamine and its metabolite 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid, and decreased the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine and its metabolite 5-hydroxy indole acetic acid in the brain. Thus, the hypofunction of the dopaminergic system or of the serotoninergic system or the combination of the two may underlie the observed behavioral change, which might affect the fitness of fish in their natural environment.
authors.affiliation: Henan Open Laboratory of Key Subjects of Environmental and Animal Products Safety, College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Henan, China. Electronic address: jiliang_zhang@126.com.
authors.forename: Jiliang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Henan Open Laboratory of Key Subjects of Environmental and Animal Products Safety, College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Chunnuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Henan Open Laboratory of Key Subjects of Environmental and Animal Products Safety, College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Henan Open Laboratory of Key Subjects of Environmental and Animal Products Safety, College of Animal Science and Technology, Henan University of Science and Technology, Henan, China.
authors.forename: Xian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Shao
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism; D002681:China; D003530:Cyprinidae / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D052244:Endocrine Disruptors / Q000633:toxicity*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds / Q000633:toxicity*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D052244:Endocrine Disruptors; D014220:Trialkyltin Compounds; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical; D012701:Serotonin; C011559:tributyltin; D004298:Dopamine
keywords: Anxiety; Behavior; Rare minnow; Shoaling; Tributyltin