Do proactive and reactive individuals of tambaqui differ in their learning ability in a T-maze?

Stress coping styles refer to the behavioral and physiological strategies used by animals to deal with challenges, which can influence their capacity for response and learning. We explored differences in learning capacity among tambaqui individuals classified by stress coping style. Twenty-four animals were classified as proactive (7.78 ± 2.39 cm; 7.72 ± 2.34 g) or reactive (7.68 ± 0.51 cm; 6.98 ± 1.32 g). For 15 days, the fish were tested in a T-shaped maze, where a visual marker, accompanied by food, was used to measure learning. The results indicated that both groups were unable to associate the visual marker with the food, suggesting that coping style did not influence associative learning. Although reactive animals showed longer latency time in the first 2 days, there were no differences in the subsequent days. Additional studies are needed to better understand how these stress coping styles may affect tambaqui’s cognitive ability.