Behavioural Platforms for Small Aquatic Species

水生毒理学研究的重点是环境压力源，特别是化学物质对水生物种的生物影响。环境应激源的实验室研究已经集中在描述慢性和低剂量暴露以及多种应激源的亚致死效应上。行为毒理学是一门新兴的分支学科，利用生态相关行为来评估复杂的，整个生物体对环境压力的反应。行为可能是一个非常敏感的毒理学终点和生态相关。在我们的实验室里，我们正在合并环境压力源（麦克利兰，威尔逊）和行为生态学（巴尔希恩）的研究。在我们的实验室中进行的许多行为分析都利用了定制的行为领域，在主要适合中型到大型物种的基础设施中进行，并利用人工分析视频。手动分析需要大量的时间，并且限制了复制和评估的条件。我们没有合适的设备来评估小型鱼类和幼鱼的行为。我们感兴趣的小物种包括重要的模式鱼类——斑马鱼。幼鱼被认为对压力源相当敏感，可用于确定发育暴露的影响和胚胎饲养环境的长期影响。我们建议购买两个用于幼虫和小型鱼类的商业行为平台，以及用于行为自动分析的软件，以减轻研究小型水生生物行为的挑战。我们包括一个平台，记录在一个可控的舞台上的行为（光和温度控制，轻拍和光刺激），这是灵活的，适用于井盘和盘子；允许同时监测多种鱼类。我们还包括一个在两种环境条件下进行行为选择的平台。这些平台和自动分析软件将大大提高行为测试的速度、准确性和能力（活动、刺激反应、社会行为、压力和焦虑、浅滩等），特别是对小型鱼类和幼鱼。这些系统还将增加实验数据的一致性，因为这些系统将消除不同评估者引入的结果的差异。该设备将为研究小型鱼类和幼鱼的行为毒理学提供重要工具。

Aquatic toxicology studies focus on the biological impacts of environmental stressors, particularly chemicals, on aquatic species. Laboratory studies of environmental stressors have become focused on delineating sub-lethal effects from chronic and low dose exposures and multiple stressors. Behavioural toxicology is a strongly emerging sub-discipline where ecologically relevant behaviours are utilized to assess complex, whole organism responses to environmental stressors. Behaviour can be a very sensitive toxicological endpoint and ecologically relevant. In our labs, we are merging the study of environmental stressors (McClelland, Wilson) and behavioural ecology (Balshine). Much of the behavioural assays undertaken in our labs have utilized custom behavioural arenas, is performed in infrastructure primarily suitable for moderate to large species, and utilizes manual analyses of videos. Manual analyses requires significant time and limits replication and conditions assessed. We do not have suitable equipment to assess behaviour in small species and larval fish. Small species of interest include the important model fish species, zebrafish. Larval fish are considered quite sensitive to stressors and useful for determining the impacts of developmental exposures and the long term impacts of the embryonic rearing environment. We propose the purchase of two commercial behavioural platforms for larval and small fish species and software for automated analyses of behaviour to alleviate the challenges of studying behaviour in small aquatic organisms. We include a platform that records behaviour in a controlled arena (light and temperature control, and tapping and light stimulation) that is flexible and amenable to well plates and dishes; allowing simultaneous monitoring of multiple fish. We also include a platform for behavioural choice between two environmental conditions. These platforms and the automated analysis software will greatly increase the speed, accuracy, and capacity of behavioural testing (activity, stimulus response, social behaviour, stress and anxiety, shoaling, etc.), particularly for small species and larval fish. These systems will also increase the consistency of data across experiments because these systems will remove variation in results introduced by different assessors. This equipment will provide important tools to study behavioural toxicology in small species and larval fish.