Social organization and aggression within small groups of female siamese fighting fish, betta splendens

Bibliographic Data

ID11107363
AuthorsRobert W Elwood (0000-0002-6932-8691, corresponding author), C J Rainey, Charlene Rainey
Year1983
Volume9
Issue4
Pages303-308
Publication date1983-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAggressive Behavior (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0096-140X • E-ISSN: 1098-2337
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/1098-2337(1983)9:4<303::aid-ab2480090404>3.0.co;2-5
OpenAlexW1986492641
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited10

Small groups of female Siamese fighting fish were observed in an attempt to determine whether a dominance order exists in these fish. Each fish, in each group, was allocated a rank for each activity on each day of observation. The rankings for the number of bites of food from a restricted source, the number of displays, the order of attacks, and the number of attacks each showed a significant concordance from day to day. A significant concordance was also found between the rankings of the different parameters. These data show that a stable dominance order is formed when females are in small groups. The top-ranked fish engages in more mutual displays and single-fish displays with the second-ranked fish than with the bottom-ranked fish. Displays showed differences in duration dependent upon whether or not they resulted in an attack. These data are discussed in terms of the conflict hypothesis and are in agreement with Simpson [1968] concerning the use of that hypothesis.

Aggression · Agonistic behaviour · Biology · Concordance · Dominance (genetics) · Fish <Actinopterygii> · Fishery · Zoology · Amphibian and Reptile Biology · Animal Behavior and Reproduction · Demography · Primate Behavior and Ecology · Psychology · Social Psychology