Homing Behavior in Monkeyface Prickleback, Cebidichthys violaceus

Overview

Objectives/Goals My main question was to see if Monkeyface pricklebacks could OhomeO by using their own chemical trail. I setup a choice experiment with clean and OscentedO water in a tank. I found that the fish much more often went to the OscentedO water than the OunscentedO water. Methods/Materials Eighteen fish were collected in the intertidal in Pacific Grove, and brought back to the lab. An aquarium was setup with three compartments, one contained the initial fish and two had clean and "scented" water where the fish could swim. Each test lasted ten minutes. Results Six fish did not move and were not used in the analysis. Two fish swam to the unscented compartment, ten fish swam to the scented compartment. A Chi square test showed that this results was statistically significant. Conclusions/Discussion My experiment shows that fish seem to be more attracted by water with a home smell, than unscented water. This may explain the homing behavior that has been described before in this species.

Awards (1)

• Honorable Mention

Competition history

• CSEF 2015 Zoology · Entry J2202

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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