Antidepressant exposure reduces body size, increases fecundity and alters social behavior in the short-lived killifish Nothobranchius furzeri

Abstract

Social and mating behavior are fundamental fitness determinants in fish. Although fish are increasingly exposed to pharmaceutical compounds that may alter expression of such behavior, potential effects are understudied. Here, we examine the impact of lifelong exposure to two concentrations (0.7 and 5.3 μg/L) of the antidepressant fluoxetine on fecundity and social behavior (i.e. sociability and male-male aggression) in the turquoise killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri. When exposed to the highest concentration of fluoxetine (5.3 μg/L), fish were smaller at maturation but they more frequently engaged in mating. In addition, in both fluoxetine treatments females roughly doubled their overall fecundity while egg fertilization rates were the same for exposed and unexposed fish. Although aggression of male fish was not impacted by fluoxetine exposure, exposed male fish (5.3 μg/L) spent more time in the proximity of a group of conspecifics, which implies an increased sociability in these individuals. Overall, the results of this study indicate that exposure to fluoxetine may result in disrupted male sociability, increased mating frequency and an increased reproductive output in fish populations