Group size modifies the patterns and muscle carbohydrate effects of aggression in Betta splendens

Abstract

Aggressive encounters of previously isolated individuals were investigated in dyads and groups of five. Fights were longer and more intense when they were performed in dyads compared to fights involving five fishes. During aggressive encounters, an elevation in carbohydrate catabolism was noticed in both dyads and groups. Losing a fight resulted in a reduction in glycogen content and an increase in glycogen synthesis. Similar changes in winners did not appear; thus, the metabolic response in losers was different from that noticed in winners, both in dyads and groups. In dyadic contest winners, a marked increase in the free glucose content and glucose consumption was noticed (without changes in losers). In groups, free glucose content of the winners was not modified, while glucose consumption was enhanced both in winners and losers. Thus, the differences existing between winners and losers were greater in dyads compared to those noticed in groups. The energy cost of aggression seems to be different in dyads compared to groups of five. The rate of glucose oxidation was strongly reduced in dyads (there were no differences between winners and losers in this respect), while in groups, this parameter was not modified.