ABSTRACT
The sensory receptors are constantly sampling the environment and feeding this information to the central nervous system which integrates this with other external and internal information before making a behavioral response. Nearly all behaviors of fish involve locomotor activity. Indeed, it is the predictable body movements of an animal that the behavioral scientist observes and uses to draw conclusions as to purpose, causality, etc. The effect of copper on locomotor activity appears to vary with the species. The metals probably act as a physical irritant to a potentially wide assortment of external tissues of the fish. Many of the changes observed in locomotor activity of fish when they are exposed to chemical pollutants probably reflect a simple attempt to get away from the irritant, especially when test concentrations are high. In order to avoid low concentrations, the fish must first be able to detect the chemical in the water, and then go down a gradient toward "clean" water.
