Prosocial and antisocial choices in a monogamous cichlid with biparental care

Human society is cooperative and characterized
by spontaneous prosociality. Comparative studies on
endotherm vertebrates suggest that social interdependence causes the
evolution of proactive prosociality. To test the generality of this
hypothesis, we modified a prosocial choice task for application to the
convict cichlid, Amatitlania nigrofasciata, a monogamous
fish with biparental care and a strong pair bond. We show that subject
males learned to favor prosocial choices when their mates were the
recipients in neighboring tank. When the neighboring tank was empty, males
chose at random. Furthermore, in the absence of their mates, males also
behaved prosocially towards a stranger female. However, if the subjects’
mate was also visible in a third tank, or if a male was the potential
recipient, subjects made antisocial choices. In conclusion, fish may show
both spontaneous prosocial and antisocial behaviors,
according to their social relationships with conspecifics and the overall
social context.