Abstract
The suitability of a traditional testing paradigm (e.g. choice chamber) for assessing chemosensory behaviour in the Pacific hagfish, Eptatretus stoutii, was examined. Actively-swimming hagfish, tested at night, showed no preference for any region of a T-maze in the absence of a stimulus, but in the presence of an olfactory food cue, spent significantly more time in the zone where the cue was placed. Conversely, hagfish avoided spending time in the zone the fish anaesthetic 3-amino benzoic acid ethylester (MS-222) was placed, and demonstrated significantly more reversal responses in which the fish moved its body backwards. These data suggest that hagfish are an amenable model species for laboratory testing of behaviour.
Highlights
Given the value of hagfish as an evolutionary model species, there is significant scope for using these paradigms to understand the evolution of behaviours and neurological systems in vertebrates
Hagfish are the most ancient of extant vertebrates, thought to have diverged from the main line of vertebrate evolution as many as 560 million years ago. While many of their features are considered to be degenerate relative to a shared common vertebrate ancestor[18], they represent a valuable tool for the study of evolution of vertebrate traits
The study of hagfish behaviour under controlled laboratory conditions would represent an important tool aiding in the understanding the evolution of a range of behavioural phenomena, ranging from chemosensation to cognition
Summary
The goal of the current study was to validate the use of behavioural choice paradigms to study hagfish behaviour, and we did not attempt to characterise the sensitivity of the response, nor identify the nature of the chemoattractant
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