1st Student's Major
Biological Sciences
1st Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Students' Professional Biography
Sarah Thomson was born in 1990 in Rochester, Minnesota. In 2008, she graduated from Stewartville High School. She graduated from Minnesota State University Mankato in 2012, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science. She hopes to pursue her education with a Master of Science degree in hydrology, fish biology, or a similar field. Sarah has worked at the City of Mankato Wastewater Treatment plant in the laboratory for one year. While pursuing her bachelor’s degree she maintained the role of President in the MSU Field Ecology Club for two consecutive years. During her sophomore and junior years of college she was employed as the Radon Director in the WALTER Weather Laboratory on the Minnesota State University campus. Her areas of interest are water quality analysis, aquatic ecology, and environmental concerns in relation to water quality.
Mentor's Name
John Krenz
Mentor's Email Address
john.krenz@mnsu.edu
Mentor's Department
Biological Sciences
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Abstract
In some fish, alarm substances are released from skin cells when they are bitten by a predator, signaling nearby fish in potential danger. Such anti-predator defenses have been studied in the fathead minnow (Pimephales promelas), and some have hypothesized that the response to the alarm substance is not instinctual, but rather fish must learn to associate it with a predation cue such as motion. The purpose of this study is to detect an effect of conditioning (associating alarm substance with predation threat) on minnow responses to alarm substance. We tested the prediction that conditioned fish would react more strongly to the alarm substance cue than the unconditioned fish. This study observed this behavior in solitary minnows, since we are only aware of studies that observed groups. Our study revealed no significant differences in behavior between conditioned and unconditioned fish, whether in groups or solitary, when exposed to alarm substance.
Recommended Citation
Thomson, Sarah
(2012)
"Anti-Predator Responses of Fathead Minnows to Alarm Substance Pheromone,"
Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 12, Article 13.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.56816/2378-6949.1021
Available at:
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol12/iss1/13
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