Final Lab Packet, Draft 2, Goldfish Crackers
This topic submitted by Mike Fink, Daniel Holian, Mike Lowder, Miles Suer, Liz Wallace (
lowdermj@muohio.edu ) on 10/20/05. [Section: Myers]
Introduction Almost every person can recall a point in their childhood where they had a pet goldfish. The goldfish is often the first pet a child is given. Though many have come into close contact with goldfish over the course of their lifetimes, few truly understand the behavior of these creatures. We are interested in studying goldfish behavior by observing the goldfish in its day to day life to see how the health of a goldfish is dependent upon whether or not it is living with other fish. Our prediction, based on information obtained through research of a variety of sources, is that the goldfish that live amongst other goldfish will have a better overall health than the goldfish that live alone. ÒSchooling behavior is widespread among fishes. It occurs in some species in virtually all aquatic habitats, and at all taxonomic levels, from primitive to advanced,Ó according to Miles Keenlyside (1979). As previously stated, goldfish, especially in the wild, naturally fall into schools, and are assumed to fall into Òa common domain of behavior, resulting in collective actionÓ (Higashi, 2004).
Goldfish themselves are very social animals in the wild and do not like to be alone for long periods of time. The author David Brough (2004) says, ÒGoldfish are very social animals and thrive in a community.Ó Brough explains that goldfish will be healthier in a community and are more comfortable with other fish because they are very social. Our group wants to take this backing and prove that goldfish prefer to live in communities rather than living alone. We predict our data and observations will prove that goldfish are happier in communities, supporting our hypothesis that goldfish enjoy living in community. We will measure happiness by using a variety of aspects of health. Although many of us enjoy having pets and are willing to take care of them in order to promote their health, we often bring home a goldfish, our first pet, and a few days later he dies. Why is it that our new pet dies? Many different circumstances could contribute to the death of our new pet, but the most likely circumstance is that our new fish has just undergone a drastic change in environments. The fish has gone from being in a huge community of hundreds of goldfish in the same tank at the pet store to being alone in its own fishbowl in our bedroom. Fishes Òaggregate with other members of their own speciesÓ (Adler, 1975) to form schools, which do not break up when individuals begin to compete for homes. Goldfish behavior can be compared to human behavior in many ways. Humans that do not have contact with other humans often are not nearly as successful or happy as those who do. Another parallel between humans and goldfish is that older people, when they are widowed, are often depressed and do not do well on their own. Many times, after the death of a spouse, a widow or widower finds another mate because living on their own is quite difficult and not very enjoyable. When goldfish are taken from their friends in the pet store aquarium, they are essentially experiencing the same consequences. As a result, their lives are affected, and they are not nearly as happy. This parallel between human and goldfish behavior was the basis for our inquiry and decision to research this topic. By researching the sociability of goldfish in a controlled environment, we hope to discover the ideal living conditions of this particular species of fish and to possibly draw further parallels to other species, including humans. Robert Fenner (2002) says that goldfish Òdo quite well in groups.Ó Fenner also says that goldfish Òare much happier in groups.Ó We intend to further strengthen the findings of these experimenters with the results of our lab by proving that goldfish are much happier in communities.
Methods and Materials
We are going to conduct our experiment by creating two distinct social conditions in which our goldfish will live. These environments will keep one fish in its own tank, alone, and in several together in another tank. The environments will essentially be the same for the lone fish and for the community fish and thus, the environments will serve as the control Ð the tanks will be the same size per fish, the plants and stones will be the same, the amount of food, the light conditions, water temperature, and water conditions. We will record how these different environments will affect the social interactions, health, happiness, and well-being of the goldfish. The variables will be whether or not the fish live in community or alone.
We will set up the experiment by having twelve different tanks, each with one fish per tank. The tanks will be set up with some sort of black construction paper or other type of barrier to prevent the fish from seeing each other. The tanks will be gallon size milk jugs, just large enough to contain a sufficient environment for one fish. The fish living in community will be distributed between three different tanks, each of which will contain four fish. These tanks will be proportionally larger than the individual fish tanks so that each fish has an equal volume of water in which to live.
After setting up the tanks, we will distribute the fish accordingly Ð one fish in each of the twelve individual tanks and four fish in each of the community tanks. We will keep the variables and the controls as stated above. We will feed the fish Pro-Gold fish, which is recommended as the best food for goldfish, and they will be fed every other day.
We will record quantitative and qualitative data about each fishÕs health and well-being. We will observe each fishÕs behavior four days per week. The qualitative observations will be done on two days that the fish are fed and two days that they are not fed. We have learned that fish are intelligent enough to realize that they are about to be fed, and by observing them on days in which they are not fed, the results will not be adversely affected by their hunger. We will also measure the fish in a quantitative way by weighing them, which will be done at the beginning and end of the experiment, and once a week for the duration of the experiment. We will identify each fish first by tank, and then individually by distinct characteristics such as coloring and size that separate it from the others. Also to be measured are the reactions of each fish to various stimuli, such as other fish, plants, tapping on the aquarium to indicate level of health. Good health will be established by timely responses to the various stimuli and a consistent weight. We predict that the fish living in community will interact more with the stimuli because they will be accustomed to interaction in general, whether with other fish or with outside stimuli. Below are examples of the data tables that we plan to use in order to take data.
We plan to obtain the goldfish on Tuesday, October 25. We will begin taking data on Sunday, October 30th. During data collection, we will feed the fish every other
day, and observe their behavior three times per week. We will continue these observations for three weeks, taking a respite during the week of Thanksgiving break, and then returning for one final week of data collection starting Sunday, November 27th and finish data collection on Saturday, December 3rd. We will then prepare our data and complete the final lab report due the following week.
Our Day
To inform the class of our experiment, we will begin with general information and then get more specific with ideas and processes that pertain to our student generated lab. We will begin with stating the overall idea of our lab which is to determine whether or not goldfish are better off in a group when compared to goldfish that are living on their own, isolated in single tanks. This will include stating our hypothesis and predictions along with the outside information that we used to form them. The group will then continue to ask the remainder of the class what they think about the subject, and will be asked to put forth their own hypotheses and predictions.
Upon completion of the discussion surrounding the hypothesis, we will state the methods we employed to gather data that is either going to support or refute our given hypothesis. The purpose of each of independent variables will be explained, such as why we felt it was necessary to weigh each fish, record whether living or dead, and the documentation of each fishÕs reaction to certain stimuli. We will include information and facts that we have gathered through the course of the experiment and again open the forum to class wide discussion.
Finally our results with be displayed to the class, and we share whether or not our hypothesis was supported or refuted. Included in this section, will be possible areas of experimental error, possible new questions, other lab ideas, and possible unexpected revelations.
Results
After conducting this experiment, we believe that the results from our data will indicate that the fish living in populations of four per tank will fare better than those living in their own separate tanks. The fish living among others will fare better than the single fish because goldfish are social animals and are more comfortable among others of their kind. As a result of living with other fish, each goldfish in the tank will still receive an adequate amount of food, yet still have healthy interactions with other living beings in the tank. The single fish, on the other hand, will have no camaraderie in their tank; they will receive less interaction with other goldfish and eventually become ÒdepressedÓ. This depression will lead to overall poor health which will reflect in life span, weight, and stimuli reaction results Ð the single fish will not react as quickly to various stimuli because of lack of experience in dealing with outside stimuli.
Discussion
Throughout the duration of this experiment our group will have to consider many factors in order to preserve the integrity of the data. Keeping track of which fish is which will be critical in order to determine livability. Making sure that each recorder pertains to the prescribed regulations for determining whether or not the goldfish in question is reacting to the stimuli is also critical. Each person must make sure that the same amount of food is put into each tank week after week and that the food is delivered at roughly the same time each feeding period. The goldfish need to be kept on a regular schedule so that the only independent variables are the ones that our group has designed into this student-generated experiment. When commencing with the stimulus portion of the experiment it is required that the same fish and plant be used in each instance to stimulate the subject, for different and different plants could illicit varied reactions among the goldfish. The tapping on the tank needs at regular intervals and for set period of time, while maintaining a consistent pressure for each trial.
Data Tables
Fish Information by Week
Fish Number Weight (grams) Living (yes or no) Reacts to Stimulus (yes or no)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
Stimulus Table
Fish Number Other Fish Plants Tapping
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
References
Adler, Dr. Helmut E. Fish Behavior: Why Fishes Do What They Do. Neptune City,
N.J.: T.F.H. Publications, 1975.
Brough, David. ÒBlack Moor Goldfish, Carassius auratus.Ó Animal World. 2005.
Buchner, A. S., K. A. Sloman, and S. Balshine. "The physiological effects of social status
in the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher." Journal of Fish Biology 65.4 (2004): 1080-095.
Fenner, Robert. ÒGoldfish Behavior FAQÕs. Wet Web Media. 27 September 2005.
Higashi, Tsunehito, Syougo Baba, and Hayato Kakuta. "A three-dimensional model of
fish schooling behavior." Bulletin of the Okayama University of Science A Natural Science no. 40A (2004): 81-89.
Kato, S., et al. "A quantification of goldfish behavior by an image processing system."
Behavioural Brain Research 80.1-2 (1996): 51-55.
Keenlyside, Miles H.A. Diversity and Adaptation in Fish Behavior. New York, 1979.
Mostofsky, David I. The Behavior of Fish and Other Aquatic Animals. New
York, 1978.
Niwa, Hiro-Sato. "Self-organizing dynamic model of fish schooling." Journal of
Theoretical Biology 171.2 (1994): 123-36.
Reebs, StŽphan. Fish Behavior. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2001.
Suzuki, Katsuya, Tsutomu Takagi, and Tomonori Hiraishi. "Video analysis of fish
schooling behavior in finite space using a mathematical model." Fisheries Research (Amsterdam) 60.1 (2003): 3-10.
Takagi, Tsutomu, et al. "Fish schooling behavior in water tanks of different shapes and
sizes." Nippon Suisan Gakkaishi 59.8 (1993): 1279-287.
Takagi, Tsutomu, et al. "Mathematical model of fish schooling behaviour in a set-net."
ICES Journal of Marine Science 61.7 (2004): 1214-223.
Walsh, Stephen J. and Asmund Bjordal. "Fish behaviour in exploited ecosystems Ð
Introduction." ICES Journal of Marine Science 61.7 (2004): 1030-035.
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