Social learning in Cartilaginous fish (stingrays Potamotrygon falkneri)

• Published in: Animal cognition Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 927 - 932
• Main Authors: Thonhauser, Kerstin E., Gutnick, Tamar, Byrne, Ruth A., Kral, Karl, Burghardt, Gordon M., Kuba, Michael J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.11.2013; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Animal behavior; Animal cognition; Animal ethology; Animal populations; Animals; Behavioral Sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Dasyatidae; Female; Fish; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General aspects; Imitative Behavior; Learning; Life Sciences; Male; Original Paper; Psychology Research; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Reward; Skates (Fish) - physiology; Social Behavior; Zoology; Cartilaginous fish; Social learning; Imitation learning; Stingray; Cognition; Imitation
• ISSN: 1435-9448; 1435-9456
• DOI: 10.1007/s10071-013-0625-z

Social learning is considered one of the hallmarks of cognition. Observers learn from demonstrators that a particular behavior pattern leads to a specific consequence or outcome, which may be either positive or negative. In the last few years, social learning has been studied in a variety of taxa including birds and bony fish. To date, there are few studies demonstrating learning processes in cartilaginous fish. Our study shows that the cartilaginous fish freshwater stingrays ( Potamotrygon falkneri ) are capable of social learning and isolates the processes involved. Using a task that required animals to learn to remove a food reward from a tube, we found that observers needed significantly ( P  < 0.01) fewer trials to learn to extract the reward than demonstrators. Furthermore, observers immediately showed a significantly ( P  < 0.05) higher frequency of the most efficient “suck and undulation” strategy exhibited by the experienced demonstrators, suggesting imitation. Shedding light on social learning processes in cartilaginous fish advances the systematic comparison of cognition between aquatic and terrestrial vertebrates and helps unravel the evolutionary origins of social cognition.