Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are highly social animals that engage in a diverse variety of nonreproductive social behaviors that emerge as early as 14 days postfertilization (dpf). However, we observe considerable behavioral variability at this stage, and comparisons across studies are potentially complicated both by chronological gaps in measurements and inconsistencies in developmental staging. To address these issues, we adapted our assay for social orienting and cueing in the adult zebrafish and used it to probe behavior in a critical window of larval development. In addition, we performed measurements of body length and tested a cohort of larvae with impaired growth to understand if this morphological feature is predictive of individual sociality. We report that zebrafish exhibit increasingly complex social behaviors between 10 and 16 dpf, including place preference, orienting, and social cueing. Furthermore, social behavior is related to standard length on an individual basis beginning at 14 dpf, such that developmentally stunted 14 dpf zebrafish raised on dry feed do not exhibit social behaviors, suggesting some morphological features are more predictive than chronological age. This highly variable and early stage in development provides an opportunity to further understand how genetic and environmental factors affect the assembly of neural circuits underlying complex behaviors.

中文翻译：

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斑马鱼的快速进步社会发展。

斑马鱼 (Danio rerio) 是高度社会化的动物，在受精后 14 天 (dpf) 就会出现各种非生殖社会行为。然而，我们在这个阶段观察到相当大的行为变异性，并且跨研究的比较可能由于测量的时间间隔和发育分期的不一致而变得复杂。为了解决这些问题，我们对成年斑马鱼的社会定向和提示进行了调整，并用它来探测幼虫发育关键窗口中的行为。此外，我们测量了体长并测试了一组生长受损的幼虫，以了解这种形态特征是否可以预测个体的社会性。我们报告斑马鱼在 10 到 16 dpf 之间表现出越来越复杂的社会行为，包括位置偏好、定向和社会暗示。此外，社会行为与从 14 dpf 开始的个体标准长度有关，因此在干饲料上饲养的发育迟缓的 14 dpf 斑马鱼不会表现出社会行为，这表明某些形态特征比实际年龄更具预测性。这种高度可变的早期发展阶段为进一步了解遗传和环境因素如何影响复杂行为背后的神经回路的组装提供了机会。表明一些形态特征比实际年龄更具预测性。这种高度可变的早期发展阶段为进一步了解遗传和环境因素如何影响复杂行为背后的神经回路的组装提供了机会。表明一些形态特征比实际年龄更具预测性。这种高度可变的早期发展阶段为进一步了解遗传和环境因素如何影响复杂行为背后的神经回路的组装提供了机会。