Alarm Pheromone and Avoidance Conditioning in Goldfish, Carassius auratus  

Abstract

WHILE the alarm reaction in fish is believed to be produced by a chemical substance (pheromone) secreted by specialized cells in the epidermis and released by epidermal damage, relatively little systematic research has been devoted to the extent, nature or essence of the reaction and its relationship to the relevant chemical substance¹. Our investigation represents an exploration of the effect of alarm pheromone on avoidance conditioning. Fifteen 2 inch goldfish, Carassius auratus, were kept in a thirty gallon aquarium divided into thirds by wire barriers. In accordance with other reports, the fish were deliberately well fed². Massed avoidance conditioning (all trials on one day) was studied in a Lafayette Instrument aquatic conditioning unit (volume of approximately one gallon; inside dimensions, 3.5×6×9 inches). Lights at each end of the conditioning tank served as the conditional stimuli (CS) and electric shock as the unconditional stimulus (US). Shock was adjusted for each fish and varied from 5 to 7 a.c.