DOI: 10.5061/dryad.vt4b8gv3x
title: Data from: Zebrafish imprint to amino acids: Evidence from attraction and avoidance tests

description: Imprinting to environmental cues is behind some of the most critically
 important behaviours on the planet. In certain fishes, olfactory
 imprinting is believed to direct return migration to natal areas. In this,
 amino acids are putative imprintable odorants. We tested the ability of a
 model fish (Danio rerio) to imprint to amino acids. We found that
 developmental exposure to some amino acids could result in attraction,
 avoidance or indifference later at adult stage. Imprinting to a binary
 mixture of amino acids made from attracting and repelling amino acids
 resulted in imprinting, which was surprising. However, the response was
 avoidance, not attraction. These data suggest avoidance is a more powerful
 driver of behavioural response. Our data highlight the specificity with
 which a single amino acid can have in the imprinting response, as well as
 the complexity that even the most basic of odorant mixtures can encode.
description: Zebrafish were raised from fertilization to 7 dpf in either
 embryo media alone or embryo media spiked with amino acids (L-leucine,
 L-lysine, or L-valine, or a mixture of L-leucine and L-lysine) or a
 positive control (phenylethyl alcohol [PEA]). They were then transferred
 to regular tank water and grown to adulthood. At 90 days
 post-fertilization, zebrafish were placed in an avoidance-attraction
 trough, which is a two choice arena. Zebrafish were tested for their
 tendency to either spend more or less time in the area where odorants were
 delivered. The odorants consisted of the same odorants they were exposed
 to as embryos (or blank). Data consists of time spent in the odorant zone
 10 min before odorant introduction and 10 min after odorant introduction.
 A positive difference between the two indicates attraction (or
 preference).
description: # Data from: Zebrafish imprint to amino acids: Evidence from attraction
 and avoidance tests Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.vt4b8gv3x](10.5061/dryad.vt4b8gv3x) ## Description of the
 data and file structure Fish position in the avoidance-attraction trough
 was scored manually by an observer unaware or the treatment (i.e. odorant
 delivered to the trough). Data consists of time spent on the odorant
 delivery side of the trough both during 10 min before and 10 min after
 delivery. Detailed methods are available
 here: [https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10070 ](https://doi.org/10.1163/1568539X-bja10070) ### Files and variables #### File: Dryad\_data\_submission.xlsx **Description:** Data consists of seconds in the odorant delivery zone of the two choice arena. ##### Variables Column descriptions: A)      ‘Fish’ – each number indicates an individual fish. No fish were reused. B)      ‘Imprint’ indicates the chemical that the fish were developmentally exposed to (or not; controls were left in embryo media). C)      ‘Recall’ indicates the odorant adults were given in the avoidance-attraction trough. D)      ‘Imprinted’ indicates fish that received either the exposure or control (embryo media) during development, i.e. imprinting exposures were given (Y) or not (N). E)       [Exposure] indicates the concentration of the recall odorant used. Specifically, to test recall of the imprinting cue, individual fish were given 10 min exposures to different concentrations of the imprinted odorants. Odorant concentrations are in mM, except PEA, which is in µM. Note, fish given binary mixtures during development were subsequently only given one concentration to respond to (0.1mM). F)       ‘Pre_post’ indicates which period of recall exposure the data refer to, either the 10 min before odorant introduction (pre) or the 10 min after introduction (post). G)      ‘Time’ is the data, which consists of time spent in the odorant introduction zone, in seconds, before and after odorant introduction. ## Access information Other publicly accessible locations of the data: * NA Data was derived from the following sources: * NA