Effects of Early Embryonic Alcohol Exposure on Activity Patterns in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

SFWT Zebrafish were exposed to various concentrations of EtOH at 24 hours post-fertilization for a period of two hours. When fish reached maturity they were placed in individual tanks in a larger open field. A preliminary strain comparison was also conducted using control (EtOH untreated) SFWT and AB fish. The behaviour of fish was recorded for 24 hours during a normal light:dark cycle. Motor patterns and general activity were quantified and analyzed and several behaviors were found to change significantly throughout the daytime and nighttime period. Also, fish exposed to the highest concentration of alcohol were found to exhibit significantly reduced amount of thrashing towards other subjects as compared to fish in the control group confirming previous results that demonstrated reduction of shoaling after early embryonic alcohol exposure.MAS