The Geometric World of Fishes: Comparison
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Please note this is a comparison between Version 2 by Greta Baratti and Version 1 by Greta Baratti.

AnSpatimals inhabit species-specific ecological environments and acquire knowledge about the surrounding space to adaptively behave and move within it. Spatial cognition is important for achieving basic survival actions such as detecting the position of a food site or a mate, going back home or hiding from a predator. As such, animals possess multiple mechanisms for spatial mapping, including the use of individual reference points or positional relationships among them. One such mechanism allows disoriented animals to navigate according to the distinctive geometry of the environment: within a rectangular enclosure, they can simply reorient by using “metrics” (e.g., longer/shorter, closer/farther) and “sense” (e.g., left, right)al orientation may be led by the distinctive geometry of an environment: fish can use attributes of metric (short/long, close/far) and sense (left/right) to reach convenient locations, such as a foraging site. This remarkable capacity requires to handle the macrostructural attributes. Navigation based on the environmental geometry has been widely investigated across the animal kingdom, including fishes. In particular, research on teleost fish has contributed to the general understanding of geometric representations through both visual and extra-visual modalities, even vertebrates phylogenetically remote from mammals of space, which are based on Euclidean concepts, such as “point”, “surface”, and “boundary”. 

  • navigation
  • spatial geometry
  • reorientation
  • teleosts
  • fishes
Table 1. Summary of major findings on geometric navigation by fishes, within visual and nonvisual spatial layouts. Working and reference memory tasks are specified to distinguish across behavioral protocols, visual and nonvisual to distinguish across experimental modalities.
StudiesMajor results
Sovrano et al., 2002 [1]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, X. eiseni learn to use both the rectangular geometry and the blue wall to reorient.
Sovrano et al., 2003 [2]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, X. eiseni show a preference for geometry after the all-panels removal; for the trained local landmark after diagonal transposition; for geometry and the local landmark after the affine transformation, even in conflict. Some sex-specific differences found after the correct-panels removal (only females use geometry).
Vargas et al., 2004 [3]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, C. auratus learn to use both the rectangular geometry and a corner landmark to reorient but show a preference for the landmark after affine transformation.
Sovrano et al., 2005 [4]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, X. eiseni mainly reorient by geometry if trained in a small arena and tested in a big one and use the blue wall if trained in a big arena and tested in a small one.
Sovrano et al., 2005 [5]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, lateralized X. eiseni is better at combining geometry and the blue wall, and at using local landmarks in the absence of metric attributes.
Vargas et al., 2006 [6]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, C. auratus with lateral pallium lesions do not use geometry to reorient and just rely on the landmark.
Sovrano et al., 2007 [7]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, X. eiseni mainly reorient with geometry in a small arena and with the blue wall in a big arena, after affine transformation of big landmarks (blue walls).
Brown et al., 2007 [8]In a reference memory task in visual condition, controlled rearing conditions with or without featural cues affect the influence of landmarks, but not the ability to use geometry alone, in convict fish (A. nigrofasciatus).
Vargas et al., 2011 [9]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, C. auratus with lateral pallium lesions are not totally impaired at using geometry to reorient when the target can be unambiguously located.
Lee et al., 2012 [10]In a working memory task in visual modalities, X. eiseni and D. rerio use the rectangular geometry in the absence of training. Some species- and sex-specific differences have been found at simultaneously using geometry and the blue wall (females find harder the disengagement from geometry).
Lee et al., 2013 [11]In a working memory task in visual modalities, D. rerio reorient according to boundary distance and sense but not by corners or boundary length.
Lee et al., 2015 [12]In a working memory task in nonvisual modalities, D. rerio fail to merge several kinds of features with the geometry of a transparent rectangular arena. Some effects of proximity found in relation to the target position.
Sovrano & Chiandetti, 2017 [13]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, X. eiseni reared within circular tanks reorient just as well as fish reared within rectangular tanks. The encoding of environmental geometries is “inborn” and independent from early experience.
Sovrano et al., 2018 [14]In a reference memory task in nonvisual modalities, hypogean A. mexicanus and P. andruzzii learn to use both the rectangular geometry and a tactile landmark with embossed stripes to reorient.
Sovrano et al., 2020 [15]In working and reference memory tasks in nonvisual modalities, X. eiseni, D. rerio, and C. auratus learn to use nonvisual geometry only over time under rewarded training (but not in the absence of training), probably relying on extra-visual sensory modalities. The different outcome of the geometric reorientation is strongly based on the type of experimental procedure.
Sovrano et al., 2020 [16]In working and reference memory tasks in visual modalities, X. eiseni use features only to determine if the target is close regardless of metric attributes but overcome this limit over time under rewarded training.
Baratti et al., 2020 [17]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, D. rerio learn to use the rectangular geometry to reorient, also showing improvements over time.
Baratti et al., 2021 [18]In a reference memory task in visual modalities, D. rerio learn to use both corners and boundary length, in addition to distance combined with sense, to reorient.
A classic example of geometric reorientation is the following. You are standing in the center of a rectangular white room where in one corner there is a prize. You are blindfolded and turned in place, during which time the prize is removed. Afterwards, you are asked to take the blindfold off and identify the corner where you saw the prize before. If the room is perfectly rectangular, rather than choosing one of the four corners at random or always choosing the correct corner, you will systematically choose the 180° symmetric corner that has the same geometric attributes (e.g., a short wall on the left) as the correct corner. Freshwater and seawater species of fish make use of several orientation strategies for adaptative behavior. Some of these strategies request to detect, process, and memorize specific sets of spatial cues, according to self-based coordinates, while others involve spatial relationships in world-based coordinates. Spatial orientation based on the environmental geometry has been widely investigated across species, starting from Cheng’s original observations with rats[1][2][3][4][5]. His findings led him to advance the hypothesis that a “geometric module” might exist in the brain of animals to encode metric and sense properties of surfaces. Fish possess excellent capacities in spatial mapping and navigation: they can plan and execute adaptive movements to remembered goals[6][7][8][9][10][11][12], by means of learning and memory processes comparable to those displayed by land tetrapods. Beyond that, fish can resolve spatial reorientation tasks in which: 1) environmental geometries are interlaced with featural information, such as landmarks; 2) different behavioral procedures and memory systems are engaged; 3) nonvisual environments or blindness conditions request to use other sensory modalities or motion patterns[13]. An example of reorientation behavior of fish is shown in the video provided below.
This video shows an experimental trial performed by a trained specimen of goldfish (Carassius auratus) within a rectangular transparent arena. To resolve the geometric task, the fish had to choose one of the two target corners ("A" or "C") that allow it to leave the arena. These two corners had the same geometric attributes, such as a short wall on the right and a long wall on the left. The transparency of the rectangular space requested the fish to use other sensory modalities than vision to properly reorient. The behavioral pattern became increasingly consistent with repeated experience, as the fish was rewarded with food in the case of correct choices.
Behavioral observations with blind fishes[14], and eyed fishes in visual transparency contexts[15], have suggested that the shape of an environment can be experienced through multiple sensory modalities (e.g., the lateral line, the sense of touch), thus supporting the ecological importance of geometric information. More than other animal groups, teleosts are increasingly emerging as a powerful model to explore spatial memory and its neural correlates, starting from their precision at navigating through underwater environments. The geometric world of fish has been sculpted by ecological pressures to use macrostructural spatial cues for survival purposes.

References

  1. Ken Cheng; A purely geometric module in the rat's spatial representation. Cognition 1986, 23, 149-178, 10.1016/0010-0277(86)90041-7.
  2. Ken Cheng; Nora S. Newcombe; Is there a geometric module for spatial orientation? squaring theory and evidence. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review 2005, 12, 1-23, 10.3758/bf03196346.
  3. Ken Cheng; Whither geometry? Troubles of the geometric module. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 2008, 12, 355-361, 10.1016/j.tics.2008.06.004.
  4. Luca Tommasi; Cinzia Chiandetti; Tommaso Pecchia; Valeria Anna Sovrano; Giorgio Vallortigara; From natural geometry to spatial cognition. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2011, 36, 799-824, 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2011.12.007.
  5. Sang Ah Lee; The boundary-based view of spatial cognition: a synthesis. Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 2017, 16, 58-65, 10.1016/j.cobeha.2017.03.006.
  6. Lester R. Aronson; FURTHER STUDIES ON ORIENTATION AND JUMPING BEHAVIOR IN THE GOBIID FISH, BATHYGOBIUS SOPORATOR. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1971, 188, 378-392, 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1971.tb13110.x.
  7. Culum Brown; Kevin N Laland; Social learning in fishes: a review. Fish and Fisheries 2003, 4, 280-288, 10.1046/j.1467-2979.2003.00122.x.
  8. Peter Cain; William Gerin; Peter Moller; Short-range Navigation of the Weakly Electric Fish, Gnathonemus petersii L. (Mormyridae, Teleostei), in Novel and Familiar Environments. Ethology 1994, 96, 33-45, 10.1111/j.1439-0310.1994.tb00879.x.
  9. David Ingle; Dianne Sahagian; Solution of a spatial constancy problem by goldfish. Physiological Psychology 1973, 1, 83-84, 10.3758/bf03326873.
  10. Kevin Warburton; The use of local landmarks by foraging goldfish. Animal Behaviour 1990, 40, 500-505, 10.1016/s0003-3472(05)80530-5.
  11. Cristina Broglio; Fernando Rodriguez; Cosme Salas; Spatial cognition and its neural basis in teleost fishes. Fish and Fisheries 2003, 4, 247-255, 10.1046/j.1467-2979.2003.00128.x.
  12. Lucy Odling‐Smee; Stephen D. Simpson; Victoria A. Braithwaite; The Role of Learning in Fish Orientation. Fish Cognition and Behavior 2011, 4, 166-185, 10.1002/9781444342536.ch8.
  13. Greta Baratti; Davide Potrich; Sang Ah Lee; Anastasia Morandi-Raikova; Valeria Anna Sovrano; The Geometric World of Fishes: A Synthesis on Spatial Reorientation in Teleosts. Animals 2022, 12, 881, 10.3390/ani12070881.
  14. Valeria Anna Sovrano; Davide Potrich; Augusto Foà; Cristiano Bertolucci; Extra-Visual Systems in the Spatial Reorientation of Cavefish. Scientific Reports 2018, 8, 17698, 10.1038/s41598-018-36167-9.
  15. Valeria Anna Sovrano; Greta Baratti; Davide Potrich; Cristiano Bertolucci; The geometry as an eyed fish feels it in spontaneous and rewarded spatial reorientation tasks. Scientific Reports 2020, 10, 1-14, 10.1038/s41598-020-64690-1.
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