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背景的行为会影响繁殖、资源获取和生存。然而，社会环境在一生中可能会有很大的不同，目前还不清楚个人如何以及通过什么方式来应对这种差异。蓝带虎鱼是一种高度社会化的鱼类，它是研究特定于背景的社会互动的有用模型，因为行为和繁殖很容易测量，而且社会背景很容易以相关的方式改变。雄性激素等激素对脊椎动物的社会行为、繁殖和上下文特异性都很重要，也可以在L.Dalli中测量和操纵。对于虎鱼等级中的每一个地位阶层，都有特定的社会行为来促进群体繁殖。这项工作将首次测试这些成功的个体是否能在不同的社会背景下将先前的成功转化为积极的结果，以及不同行为模式的战略性表达是否支持这种成功。Dalli个体的繁殖成功可能受到雄激素的直接调节和/或可能通过雄激素对重要社会行为的间接调节。作用于大脑的雄激素对于调节与繁殖相关的达利乳杆菌的行为可能特别重要。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视角与荷尔蒙的机械调节结合在一起，对于理解个人为什么以及如何表现他们的行为方式至关重要。不同的本科生，包括女性和在科学界代表性不足的少数族裔，一直并将继续参与这项研究的所有阶段。这项工作已经在K-12学校、博物馆和研究中心与公众分享，这些教育努力将继续是优先事项。

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.