The formation of social groups is an adaptive behaviour that can provide protection from predators, improve foraging and facilitate social learning. However, the costs of proximity can include competition for resources, aggression and kleptoparasitism meaning that the decision whether to interact represents a trade-off. Here we show that zebrafish harbouring a mutation inendothelin receptor aa(ednraa) form less cohesive shoals than wild-types.ednraa^−/−mutants exhibit heightened aggression and decreased whole-body cortisol levels suggesting that they are dominant. These behavioural changes correlate with a reduction of parvocellular arginine vasopressin (AVP)-positive neurons in the preoptic area, an increase in the size of magnocellular AVP neurons and a higher concentration of 5-HT and dopamine in the brain. Manipulation of AVP or 5-HT signalling can rescue the shoaling phenotype ofednraa^−/−providing an insight into how the brain controls social interactions.

The zebrafish is an ideal model organism for behavioural genetics and neuroscience. The high conservation of genes and neurotransmitter pathways between zebrafish and other vertebrates permits the translation of research between species. Zebrafish behaviour can be studied at both larval and adult stages and recent research has begun to establish zebrafish models for human disease. Fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) is an electrochemical technique that permits the detection of neurotransmitter release and reuptake. In this study we have used in vitro FSCV to measure the release of analytes in the adult zebrafish telencephalon. We compare different stimulation methods and present a characterisation of neurochemical changes in the wild-type zebrafish brain. This study represents the first FSCV recordings in zebrafish, thus paving the way for neurochemical analysis of the fish brain.