Líffræðifélag Íslands - biologia.is
Líffræðiráðstefnan 2021
Erindi/veggspjald / Talk/poster E62
Höfundar / Authors: Marion Dellinger (1,2), Pauline Del Ben (1), Maud Caperaa (1), Léo Suret (1), David Benhaïm (1).
Starfsvettvangur / Affiliations: 1. Department of Aquaculture and Fish Biology, Hólar University, 2. University of Iceland
Kynnir / Presenter: Marion Dellinger
It was shown that spatial cognition, i.e. mental processes used to orient in space, is adapted to populations’ peculiar ecological conditions. Comparative studies focusing on cognitive variations between populations occupying different niches allow to identify ecological factors driving the evolution of cognition. Icelandic Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) populations range along an evolutionary and ecological gradient, from anadromous populations (AN) closely related to ancestral charr, to extensively genetically diverged populations in landlocked lakes (LB). Using learning tasks to test cognitive abilities requires to reward the learners, but appropriate appealing rewards for the charr are unknown as cognition in this species has not been investigated so far, and might even be population-specific. This study aims at comparing preferences for four ecologically relevant stimuli between AN and LB populations: a shelter, a mirror, congeners, and a dark background. To further test the environmental effect on such preferences, fish from both populations were raised under plain vs enriched treatments. We recorded the time spent near the stimulus as a proxy of its attractiveness, i.e. appeal of the potential reward. All stimuli were validated as potential rewards. Nevertheless, we found contrasting preferences between populations and between treatments. With further investigations, these results could hint towards population-specific conservation priorities of habitat features.