Spring 2019 - Who are the cool kids? Shoaling tendency in hybridizing Mexican fishes Behavior and Genomic Exchange in Wild Mexican Fishes

Affiliations:	Rosenthal Lab and CICHAZ (www.cichaz.org)
Project Leader:	Sarah Ruckman sruckman@tamu.edu Biology
Faculty Mentor:	Dr. Gil Rosenthal, Ph.D.
Meeting Times:	TBD
Team Size:	8 (Team Full)
Open Spots:	0
Special Opportunities:	Opportunity to co-author a scientific paper and present at national meetings; field and lab work at the field station in Mexico (www.cichaz.org), and other outreach events in Mexico and Texas 491 Research Credit Hours Possible paid positions for undergraduates
Team Needs:	Coding experience is highly recommended. Student must be able to commit to this project for at least two semesters including time during the summer and a minimum of 9 hours per week in the lab.
Description:	Our lab research is based on the hybridization of two fish species in Mexico, Xiphophorus birchmanni and X. malinche. For this project, we will be looking to assess cooperative behavior in the form of shoaling in both species. Shoaling is like schooling or when fish are all aligned and swimming together however in shoals, fish are less organized. We will start by going through the literature and understanding shoaling tendency and personality types that encourage this particularly in fishes. We will also read papers on personality and the link it has with speciation and hybridization. Next, we will be experimentally testing the fish for time spent in shoals as well as preferences for specific shoal mates. For this testing, we will be building 3D printed fish attached to robotic cars to be our controlled shoal mates. This will ultimately lead to a much larger project that can assess the genetic architecture associated with personalities that lead to hybridizations. I hope that this will inspire other projects in the lab that you will be able to lead as an independent project later on.