RISK SENSITIVITY IN FORAGING DEMPSEY,JACK CICHLIDS (CICHLASOMA-OCTOFASCIATUM)

Studies have documented that animals with positive energy budgets tend to prefer feeding sites offering constant amounts of food over those offering variable amounts of food. The present study tested whether Ja ck Dempsey cichlids (Cichlasoma octofasciatum) in a two-patch environm ent preferred the patch offering a constant amount of food over the on e offering a variable amount of food. The study also examined (1) whet her fish displayed shifts in risk sensitivity when they were allowed o nly one choice per trial (discrete-choice treatment), as opposed to wh en they could freely sample both alternatives (free-choice treatment), and (2) whether or not fish displayed shifts in risk sensitivity betw een the first trial of the day, when they were hungrier, and the final trial of the day, when they were more satiated. Two of six fish signi ficantly preferred the constant alternative and one showed a numerical preference for the constant alternative that approached significance. The mean proportion of first choices to the constant side did not dif fer significantly between the discrete-choice treatment and the free-c hoice treatment. In the discrete-choice treatment, however, fish were significantly more risk averse in the first trial of daily sessions th an in the final trial - a shift in risk sensitivity opposite to that s een in a number of other studies. This suggests that animals may pass through more than one threshold in risk sensitivity on different point s along an energy budget continuum.