Aspectos Paramétricos da Exposição do Zebrafish (Danio rerio) ao Tanque Novo

Abstract

The Novel Tank Test (NTT) is a test that evaluates anxiety-like behaviors induced in fish, allowing to analyze mainly the exploration of the fish on the surface versus the exploration at the bottom of the tank. The The NTT was first introduced with the aim of showing an initial preference of the Zebrafish (Danio rerio) for the bottom of a novel tank (new environment). After this introduction, a protocol was published for measuring behavioral and endocrine responses when zebrafish are placed in novel environments. Despite being used all over the world, there were few authors who proposed to analyze the baseline behavioral parameters of this test. Therefore, this work aimed to evaluate seven parameters: sex of the animals, shape and size of the tank, light intensity, time of day for carrying out the test, re-exposure of 15 minutes and 24 hours, and total time test/habituation. In general, no statistical differences were found when comparing the sex of the animals, the format of the tank, 15-minute and 24-hour re-exposure. On the other hand, it was observed that the size of the tank, the period of the day and the total test time may alter anxiety-like behaviors in zebrafish.