Pheromones goldfish

The period between the first and tenth symposium saw the discovery of the first reptile pheromones (garter snakes Mason et al., 1989) first fish pheromones (goldfish Sorensen, 1992), and the first amphibian pheromones (salamanders Kikuyama et al., 1995 frogs Wabnitz etal., 1999). 

Zheng, W.B., Strobeck, C., and Stacey, N. (1997). The steroid pheromone 4-pregnen-17 alpha, 20 beta-diol-3-one increases fertility and paternity in goldfish. Journal of Experimental Biology 200, 2833-2840. 

Dulka J. (1993). Sex pheromone systems in goldfish comparable to vomeronasal systems in Tetrapods Brain Behav Evol. 42, 265-280. 

Hanson L., Sorensen P. and Cohen Y. (1998). Sex pheromones and amino acids evoke distinctly different spatial patterns of electrical activity in the goldfish olfactory bulb. Ann NY Acad Sci 855, 521-524. 

Sorensen P.W., Hara T.J., Stacey N.E. and Goetz F. (1988). F-prostaglandins function as potent olfactory stimulants that comprise the post-ovulatory female sex pheromone in goldfish. Biol Reprod 39, 1039-1050. 

Zippel H., Gloger M., Luthje L., Nasser S., et al. (2000). Pheromone discrimina ability of olfactory bulb mitral and ruffed cells in the goldfish. Chem Senses 339-349. 

Metabolites in urine or feces provide the energetically least expensive, and evolutionarily probably the original, chemical signals in vertebrates. Much of history of evolution has concerned the development by living things of responses to metabolites, sometimes their own and sometimes produced by others. Those organisms which developed satisfactory responses succeeded, and those which did not, failed. (Lucas, 1944). Interested parties, such as members of the opposite sex, can then spy and read pertinent information about sexual and dominance status, health and body condition, quality of diet, and more. For instance, female goldfish release sex pheromones in their urine that... 

All male fish pheromones are steroidal (Sorensen and Stacey, 1990). Many male fish release chemicals that attract females, stimulate them to spawn, and inhibit their aggression. As early as 1982, Liley compiled a long list of examples testes, as in goldfish (Stacey and Hourston, 1982), urogenital fluid, glands on the caudal peduncle (an anal fin appendage), mucus and urine, can be sources of male pheromones. 

FIGURE 7.1 Female goldfish pheromones, (a) The preovulatory pheromone 17a, 20/3-dihydroxypregn-4-en-3 one (b) the postovulatory pheromone 15-keto-prostaglandin 2 -... 

In fish reproduction, the best-investigated pheromone system is that of the goldfish [Carassius auratus). Here, sex steroids and prostaglandins play important roles. The female produces two pheromones sequentially a preovulatory primer pheromone and a postovulatory prostaglandin pheromone that act on the male. 

Female rainbow trout, Oncorhynchusmykiss, also release in their urine 17,20jSP. As in goldfish, this pheromone increases the plasma levels of gonadotropin II and testosterone in spermiating males Scott etal, 1994). Levels of 17,20jSP rises within 1 hour of exposure and peak at 3-4 hours. Milt production also increases (Vermeirssenetfl /., 1997). 

Dulka, J. G., Stacey N. E., and Sorenson, P. W. (1986). A gonadal sex steroid 17oc-20p-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one, acts as a pheromone to rapidly increase gonadotropin and milt volume in male goldfish Carassius auratus. Society forNeuroscienceAbstracts 12, 1413. 

Dulka, J. G., Stacey, N. E., Sorensen, P. W. and van der Kraak, G. J. (1987). A steroid sex pheromone synchronizes male-female spawning readiness in goldfish. Nature 325, 251-253. 

Sorensen, P. W., and Stacey, N. E. (1990). Identified hormonal pheromones in the goldfish the basis for a model of sex pheromones function in teleost fish. In Chemical Signals in Vertebrates, vol. 6, ed. R. L. Doty and D. Miiller-Schwarze, pp. 302-311. New York Plenum. 

Likewise, in goldfish, Rosenblum et al.146 have characterized the interaction of the steroidal pheromone 17a, 3-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one to a plasma membrane isolated from the animal s olfactory epithelium. In an attempt to elucidate the molecular basis of pheromone recognition, Cao... 

Sorensen, P. W. and Scott, A. P., The evolution of hormonal sex pheromones in teleost fish. Poor correlation between the pattern of steroid release by goldfish and olfactory sensitivity suggests that these cues evolved as a result of chemical spying rather than signal specialization, ActaScand. Physiol., 152, 191, 1994. 

Sorensen, P. W., Scott, A. P., Stacey, N. E., and Bowdin, L., Sulfated 17a,20P-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one functions as a potent and specific olfactory stimulant with pheromonal actions in the goldfish, Gen. Comp. Endocrinol., 100, 128, 1995. 

Rosenblum, P. M., Sorensen, P. W., Stacey, N.E., and Peter, R. E., Binding of the steroidal pheromone 17ot, 20P-dihydroxy-4-pregnen-3-one to goldfish (Carassius auratus) olfactory epithelium membrane preparations, Chem. Senses, 16, 143, 1991. 

Understanding of vertebrate pheromones has increased dramatically since the first cue was identified in the pig over 40 years ago. Nevertheless, pheromonal cues have only been definitively identified in just over a dozen of the approximately 58 000 species of vertebrates - much fundamental work remains. Perhaps the most significant advance in our understanding of vertebrate pheromones is the realization that most comprise multiple components and that these are found in complex mixtures that vertebrate chemosensory systems discern with precision. Further, it is now clear that the neural basis for pheromone function is mediated by multiple nervous systems (e.g., different ORNs and even organs, as in the vomeronasal system) we should expect the relatively sophisticated vertebrate brain to be employing pheromones in sophisticated and diverse manners. Indeed, the examples of both goldfish and mice show that mixture composition and context both contribute to the determination of function. 

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