Plasticity of the electric organ discharge waveform of male Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus. II. Social effects.

Many electric fish produce sexually dimorphic electric organ discharges. Although electric organ discharges are comprised of action potentials, those of the Gymnotiform family Hypopomidae show significant plasticity in response to stress and time of day. We show here that male Brachyhypopomus pinnicaudatus (Hopkins 1991), adjusts the degree of sexual dimorphism in its electric organ discharge depending on immediate social conditions. Three to five days of isolation resulted in gradual decrease of two sexually dimorphic waveform characters: duration and amplitude. Introduction of a second fish to the experimental tank restored electric organ discharge duration and amplitude. Duration recovered quicker than amplitude, and both recovered faster in the presence of males than females. In studies of other electric fish species, treatment with steroid sex hormones have taken several days to increase sexual dimorphism in the electric organ discharge. The socially induced changes seen in this study are initiated too quickly to involve classic steroid action of genomic transcription and thus may depend on another mechanism. Socially induced regulation of the male's electric organ discharge waveform is consistent with the compromises in signaling strategy shown by other taxa with costly sexual advertisement signals.