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Parent-touching behavior by young fishes: incidence, function and causation

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Synopsis

Parent-touching behavior by young fishes occurs in a number of species. Most reports have been from the family Cichlidae, but this may reflect the major concentration of studies on these species. The behavior appears to serve a trophic function in many species, but may also serve to maintain cohesion of family groups, to keep adults in a parental state, or to communicate the motivational state of the young (e.g. fear, hunger). It has been suggested that prolactin may regulate the behavior and epidermal mucus condition in parental fish involved in such behavior, but the evidence is not conclusive. There appear to be similarities between cases of parent-touching as a trophic behavior, and mucus- and/or scale-feeding by cleaning symbionts or predators. Studies of this behavior hold promise for investigating interrelationships between endocrinology and behavior, and ecology and behavior.

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  1. Department of Zoology, College of Biological Science, University of Guelph, N1G 2W1, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    David L. G. Noakes

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Noakes, D.L.G. Parent-touching behavior by young fishes: incidence, function and causation. Environ Biol Fish 4, 389–400 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00005529

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