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The Journal of Experimental Biology 206, 2355-2362 (2003)
doi: 10.1242/jeb.00437

Effects of social interaction on the electric organ discharge in a mormyrid fish, Gnathonemus petersii (Mormyridae, Teleostei)

Thomas A. Terleph^1,* and Peter Moller^1,2

¹ Hunter College of the City University of New York, Department of Psychology
² The American Museum of Natural History, Division of Vertebrate Zoology (Ichthyology), Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, NY 10024-5192, USA

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: tterleph{at}hotmail.com)

Accepted 4 April 2003

African weakly discharging electric fish (Mormyridae) use their self-generated electric signals and electroreceptive abilities for orientation and communication in the context of courtship and territorial interactions. This paper documents socially mediated changes in the electric organ discharge (EOD) of subadult Gnathonemus petersii under non-breeding environmental conditions. Increases in EOD duration and changes in the relative phase amplitudes occurred in dominant fish during same-sex (male–male, female–female) and opposite-sex interactions. Similar changes were also observed in fish that were restricted in their physical interactions, suggesting that direct contact is not necessary to induce dominance-typical EOD waveforms. The possible communicative functions of these changes are discussed.

Key words: Mormyridae, Gnathonemus, social behavior, electric organ discharge, behavioral plasticity

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