Lateralized fish perform better than nonlateralized fish in spatial reorientation tasks

Lines of fish (Girardinus falcatus) obtained through selective breeding showing different degree and direction of behavioural lateralization in a variety of tasks were tested for their ability for spatial reorientation. In the first experiment, fish were required to reorient themselves after passive disorientation in a rectangular tank in the presence of a salient feature (a blue wall). Lateralized fish proved to be better than nonlateralized fish at using the geometric cues provided by the shape of the tank in order to disambiguate between corners with similar featural information. In the second experiment fish were tested in a square-shaped tank (in order to eliminate any geometric cues) in the presence of salient features (panels) located at the corners. Lateralized fish proved better than nonlateralized fish in using featural cues to reorient themselves. These findings suggest that lateralization may confer advantages in spatial reorientation based on the use of geometric and nongeometric cues.