Use of numerical and spatial information in ordinal counting by zebrafish

Abstract

The use of non-symbolic numerical information is widespread throughout the animal kingdom, providing adaptive benefits in several ecological contexts. Here we provide the possible evidence of ordinal numerical skills in zebrafish (Danio rerio). Zebrafish were trained to identify the second exit in a series of five identically-spaced exits along a corridor. When at test the total length of the corridor (Exp. 1) or the distance between exits (Exp. 2) was changed, zebrafish appeared not to use the absolute spatial distance. However, zebrafish relied both on ordinal as well as spatial cues when the number of exits was increased (from 5 to 9) and the inter-exit distance was reduced (Exp. 3), suggesting that they also take into account relative spatial information. These results highlight that zebrafish may provide a useful model organism for the study of the genetic bases of non-symbolic numerical and spatial cognition, and of their interaction.