Can I read Electric Signal Synchronization as a Behavioural Strategy to Generate Social Attention in Small Groups of Mormyrid Weakly Electric Fish and a Mobile Fish Robot on EtoBox?

Electric Signal Synchronization as a Behavioural Strategy to Generate Social Attention in Small Groups of Mormyrid Weakly Electric Fish and a Mobile Fish Robot by Martin Worm; Tim Landgraf; Gerhard von der Emde is a Neuroscience article available to read on EtoBox.

What is Electric Signal Synchronization as a Behavioural Strategy to Generate Social Attention in Small Groups of Mormyrid Weakly Electric Fish and a Mobile Fish Robot about?

## Abstract African weakly electric fish communicate at night by constantly emitting and perceiving brief electrical signals (electric organ discharges, EOD) at variable inter-discharge intervals (IDI). While the waveform of single EODs contains information about the sender’s identity, the variable IDI patterns convey information about its current motivational and behavioural state. Pairs of fish can synchronize their EODs to each other via echo responses, and we have previously formulated a ‘social attention hypothesis’ stating that fish use echo responses to address specific individuals and establish brief dyadic communication frameworks within a group. Here, we employed a mobile fish robot to investigate the behaviour of small groups of up to four Mormyrus rume and characterized the social situations during which synchronizations occurred. An EOD-emitting robot reliably evoked social following behaviour, which was strongest in smaller groups and declined with increasing group size. We did not find significant differences in motor behaviour of M. rume with either an interactive playback (echo response) or a random control playback by the robot. Still, the robot reliably elicited

Who reads Electric Signal Synchronization as a Behavioural Strategy to Generate Social Attention in Small Groups of Mormyrid Weakly Electric Fish and a Mobile Fish Robot?

Author

Martin Worm; Tim Landgraf; Gerhard von der Emde

Publisher

Springer Science and Business Media LLC

Published

2021

Language

EN

Field

Neuroscience (Life Sciences)