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A short note on how tied fights affect cortisol levels
Author(s) -
COOPER Edwin L.,
NGO Kathy T.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
integrative zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 34
ISSN - 1749-4877
DOI - 10.1111/1749-4877.12012
Subject(s) - oreochromis mossambicus , melatonin , cichlid , aggression , tilapia , affect (linguistics) , endocrinology , medicine , hormone , biology , immune system , stress hormone , glucocorticoid , fish <actinopterygii> , psychology , developmental psychology , fishery , immunology , communication
Previous work exploring the interrelationships between sex steroids (e.g. androgens, testosterones and 11‐ketotestosterones) and social behavior in teleosts suggest that mirror‐elicited aggression in cichlid fish may not trigger a hormonal response. Using the Mozambique tilapia ( Oreochromis mossambicus ) to analyze immune responses as a result of social stress, we measured levels of cortisol and melatonin using Enzyme‐Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) assays. In this work, we demonstrated that cortisol concentrations are significantly lower yet the levels of melatonin remain unchanged in tilapia that are fighting their mirror image. Our results suggested that in tied fights, certain hormone levels remain unchanged (e.g. androgens) due to the lack of melatonin induction.