The lateral bias in fish behavior and perception affecting their shoaling

• Project/Area Number: 15K18574
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Animal physiology/Animal behavior
• Research Institution: Utsunomiya University (2018); National Institute for Basic Biology (2015-2017)
• Principal Investigator: Yasugi Masaki 宇都宮大学, 工学部, 研究員 (50722790)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2018)
• Budget Amount: ¥3,380,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥780,000); Fiscal Year 2017: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000); Fiscal Year 2016: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000); Fiscal Year 2015: ¥1,950,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥450,000)
• Keywords: 魚類 / 行動 / 左右非対称性 / 生態学 / 認知 / メダカ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We investigated the lateral biases in the behaviors and perception of medaka. In the path selection experiment using a double-sided road, 25% of the whole individuals showed strong selectivity biased either to leftward or rightward. On the other hand, in many individuals, no significant difference was seen in the time to induce their escape behavior, which suggests the symmetry of the neural mechanism for this behavior. The result of stomach contents analysis suggested that predator-prey interaction between Japanese amberjack and their prey can be influenced by the lateral biases in their behavior and perception. In addition, in order to facilitate experiments dealing with multiple animals simultaneously, we constructed an experimental system using 3DCG medaka.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

「利き」と呼ばれる行動や認知の左右非対称性は、我々を含めた脊椎動物で一般的に見られる現象だと考えられつつある。生理学的および遺伝学的な知見の多いメダカでもこれが確認できたことから、この現象の遺伝的な基盤の解明が期待される。また、本研究の結果は、集団の組織化や群れの統一的な移動を可能にする仕組みを理解するにあたり「個体の特性としての左右差」という新たな視点をもたらす。

Research Products

• [Journal Article] Illusory Motion Reproduced by Deep Neural Networks Trained for Prediction (2018)
  • Author(s): Watanabe Eiji、Kitaoka Akiyoshi、Sakamoto Kiwako、Yasugi Masaki、Tanaka Kenta
  • Journal Title: Frontiers in Psychology Volume: 9 Pages: 345-345
  • DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00345
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Three-dimensional computer graphic animations for studying social approach behaviour in medaka fish: Effects of systematic manipulation of morphological and motion cues (2017)
  • Author(s): Nakayasu Tomohiro、Yasugi Masaki、Shiraishi Soma、Uchida Seiichi、Watanabe Eiji
  • Journal Title: PLOS ONE Volume: 12 Issue: 4 Pages: 1-17
  • DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0175059
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Journal Article] Dynamic plasticity in phototransduction regulates seasonal changes in color perception (2017)
  • Author(s): Shimmura Tsuyoshi、Nakayama Tomoya、Shinomiya Ai、Fukamachi Shoji、Yasugi Masaki、Watanabe Eiji、Shimo Takayuki、Senga Takumi、Nishimura Toshiya、Tanaka Minoru、Kamei Yasuhiro、Naruse Kiyoshi、Yoshimura Takashi
  • Journal Title: Nature Communications Volume: 8 Issue: 1 Pages: 412-412
  • DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00432-8
  • Peer Reviewed / Open Access
• [Presentation] Medaka fish follow up the virtual conspecific turning its face toward them (2018)
  • Author(s): 八杉公基、渡辺英治
  • Organizer: 第41回日本神経科学大会
• [Presentation] The application of 3D virtual fish to the study about fish cognition (2018)
  • Author(s): Masaki Yasugi and Eiji Watanabe
  • Organizer: IMID2019
  • Int'l Joint Research / Invited
• [Presentation] Detection of behavioral elements which trigger the social approach behavior in medaka fish (2017)
  • Author(s): 八杉公基、渡辺英治
  • Organizer: 第40回日本神経科学大会
• [Presentation] メダカの視覚、逃避反応における左右非対称性 (2016)
  • Author(s): 八杉公基、渡辺英治
  • Organizer: 第39回日本神経科学大会
  • Place of Presentation: パシフィコ横浜（神奈川県横浜市）
  • Year and Date: 2016-07-20
• [Book] 動物学の百科事典 (2018)
  • Author(s): 公益社団法人日本動物学会
  • Total Pages: 800
  • Publisher: 丸善出版
  • ISBN: 4621303090
• [Remarks] 3DCG Medaka Fish Creation Manual (in Japanese)
  • URL: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5947066
• [Remarks] 3DCG Medaka Fish Creation Manual (in English)
  • URL: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5947339