DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Integrating across behavior, hormones, and social context to understand the dynamic interactions between social behavior and fitness

社会行为是自然选择的关键目标，因为表达适合特定社会环境的行为会影响繁殖、资源获取和生存。然而，在人的一生中，社会环境可能会有很大的变化，而我们仍然不知道个人能在多大程度上以及通过什么方式应对这种变化。蓝带虾虎鱼（Lythrypnus dalli）是一种高度社会化的鱼类，它是研究特定环境下的社会互动的有用模型，因为行为和繁殖很容易测量，而且社会环境很容易以相关的方式改变。雄激素等激素对脊椎动物的社会行为、繁殖和环境特异性很重要，也可以在L. dalli中测量和操纵。在虾虎鱼的层级中，每一个地位等级都有促进群体繁殖的特定社会行为。这项工作将首次测试这些成功的个体是否能够在不同的社会环境中将先前的成功转化为积极的结果，以及不同行为模式的策略表达是否构成了成功的基础。雄性激素可能直接调控雄性L. dalli个体的繁殖成功，也可能通过雄性激素对重要社会行为的影响间接调控。雄激素在大脑中的作用可能对调节与生殖相关的乳杆菌行为特别重要。这项工作可以阐明雄激素和生殖成功之间进化上保守的相互作用。社会行为是复杂的，这种研究方法将进化的观点与激素的机械调节结合起来，对于理解个体行为的原因和方式至关重要。不同的本科生，包括在科学领域未被充分代表的女性和少数民族，已经并将继续参与这项研究的各个阶段。这项工作已经在K-12学校、博物馆和研究中心与公众分享，这些教育工作将继续成为优先事项。

Social behavior is a critical target for natural selection because expressing behaviors appropriate for a given social context affects reproduction, resource acquisition, and survival. Social context can vary greatly over a lifetime, however, and it remains unknown how well, and by what means, individuals can deal with this variation. The bluebanded goby (Lythrypnus dalli), a highly social fish, is a useful model for investigating context-specific social interactions because behavior and reproduction are simple to measure, and social context is easy to alter in relevant ways. Hormones such as androgens, which are important for vertebrate social behavior, reproduction, and context-specificity, can also be measured and manipulated in L. dalli. For each status class in a hierarchy of gobies, there are specific social behaviors that promote group reproduction. This work will test for the first time whether those successful individuals can translate prior success into positive outcomes in different social contexts and whether the strategic expression of distinct behavioral patterns underlies that success. The reproductive success of individual L. dalli may be directly regulated by androgens and/or regulation could be indirect via androgen effects on important social behaviors. Androgens acting in the brain may be particularly important for the regulation of L. dalli behaviors associated with reproduction. This work could elucidate an evolutionarily conserved interaction between androgens and reproductive success. Social behavior is complex, and this research approach, which integrates an evolutionary perspective with mechanistic regulation by hormones, will be critical to understanding why and how individuals behave the way that they do. Diverse undergraduates, including women and minorities underrepresented in science, have been, and will continue to be, involved in all stages of this research. This work has already been shared with the public at K-12 schools, museums, and research centers, and these education efforts will continue to be a priority.