Thesis advisor: Daniel Kirschner / Thesis advisor: Caroly Shumway / Species-specific differences in visual acuity have been demonstrated across species of cichlids differing in social and habitat complexity. What is the role of plasticity? A visual acuity assay on two species of fish reared in different habitat and social complexity was used to study brain plasticity in Xenotilapia flavipinnis and Asprotilapia leptura juveniles. The X. flavipinnis lives in sandy habitats and schools as juveniles. These fry were raised in an impoverished social environment in one case and an enriched habitat environment in another. The A. leptura lives in rocky habitats naturally. These fry were raised in an impoverished habitat environment. All conditions were compared to control groups with natural social and habitat conditions. I found that a change in social complexity had a plastic effect on visual acuity but a change in habitat complexity in both cases did not. / Thesis (BS) — Boston College, 2006. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Biology. / Discipline: College Honors Program.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BOSTON/oai:dlib.bc.edu:bc-ir_102202 |
| Date | January 2006 |
| Creators | Higgins, Elizabeth Lee |
| Publisher | Boston College |
| Source Sets | Boston College |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, thesis |
| Format | electronic, application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. |
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