Am. Bell, Effects of an endocrine disrupter on courtship and aggressive behaviour ofmale three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, ANIM BEHAV, 62, 2001, pp. 775-780
Oestrogenic endocrine-disrupting chemicals released into the environment ha
ve the potential to affect animal behaviour. This study examined the relati
onship between plasma levels of gonadal steroids and behaviour and the effe
cts of exogenous hormonal perturbation on the behaviour of nesting male thr
ee-spined stickleback. Plasma gonadal steroid concentrations were related t
o levels of nesting and aggressive behaviours: levels of oestradiol were ne
gatively related to courtship behaviours while levels of 11-ketotestosteron
e were negatively related to nesting behaviours. The behaviour of male thre
e-spined stickleback exposed to environmentally relevant concentrations of
an endocrine disrupter differed from the behaviour of control males. Contro
l males increased their aggressive response to a live male conspecific over
time, while males exposed to ethinyl oestradiol decreased their aggressive
response. This study offers further evidence that low levels of endocrine-
disrupting chemicals in the environment may exert subtle yet important effe
cts on animal behaviour. (C) 2001 The Association for the Study of Animal B
ehaviour.