Social control of cell size: males and females are different

Successful animals survive because they modify their behavior in response to changes in their physical and social environments. Some responses such as fleeing or fighting, are immediate and can be understood or at least described by their proximate causes. Other modifications occur in animals over a longer time frame because they require tissue growth (or loss), changes in responsiveness to signalling molecules, or other alterations in the regulation of physiological systems. There are numerous examples of the short-term cause-effect relationships which are known in some detail. In contrast, less is known about how long-term changes result from environmental or social signals. Since reproduction is arguably the single most important aspect of an animal's life, reproductive behaviors offer a unique chance to study such change. Reproduction requires exquisite coordination of physiological state and behavioral acts. Many aspects of reproductive behavior occur only under natural conditions so it is imperative to analyze naturally occurring behaviors in real animals, preferably in the natural habitat. We have been studying an African cichlid fish in natural and semi-natural conditions because the connection between physiology and behavior can be easily seen. Moreover, the consequence of social success can be traced directly to changes in the brain, both in the short and long term. In this species, territorial males inhibit sexual maturation of nonterritorial males during development. Even after a male becomes sexually mature and territorial, being defeated causes his gonads to regress rapidly.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)