Water Level on the Agonistic Response of Male Betta Splendens:

Introduction By Aidan Cook, Charlie Deichman-Caswell, and Maurice Royal-Zigler Conclusions

Background: During our experiments, we found that the

male Betta Splendens spent more time on
The purpose of this experiment was to
Methods the side with the mirror as the water level
test the agonistic response of Betta lowered.
splendens. Also, the fish seemed to flare more as the
Responses were tested with the tank at a base of 10 cm for 2 minutes
The agonistic response is any social water level got lower, supporting our
without a mirror.
behavior related to fighting hypothesis.
This was repeated for each height, 5 cm, 7.5 cm, 10 cm, and 12.5 cm with
Without the mirror, the fish werent Our hypothesis that the fish would react
a mirror on one side.
aggressive or scared, with no flares or stronger in shallower waters was supported
signs of the agonistic response by our test results.

Results Future Directions

The same tests could be

repeated, but without the mirror.
Mirrors could be placed on
multiple sides of the tank.
Mirrors could be replaced with
paper cutouts of other male
Betta splendens.

Research Question:
How does changing the water level in Acknowledgements
the tank effect the agonistic response
of a male Betta Splendens?
Special thanks to Takisha Reece for
Research Objective: supplying all of the materials used in the
experiment.
Find the effect that water level has on
the agonistic response of a male Betta
Splendens.

Hypothesis:
It was hypothesized that the fish would
have a stronger agonistic response
when there was less water in the tank
because there would be less space
making the fish more uncomfortable.