ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews what has been done in behavioral toxicology with regard to determining the effects of metal exposure, and examine experimental options for determining the ecological effects of metals by using behavioral endpoints. Behavior is the organismal level manifestation of the motivational, biochemical, physiological, and environmentally influenced state of the organism. Sublethal metal toxicity has been shown to induce changes in many aspects of fish behavior. The behaviors evaluated after exposure to metals were avoidance/attractance, activity, critical swimming performance, respiratory behavior, learning, intraspecific social interactions, reproductive behavior, feeding behavior, and predator avoidance. Laboratory tests with consistently high-quality dilution water and unexposed fish will likely overestimate the responsiveness of fish to metal contamination in the wild. Growth, along with survival and reproduction, is one of the most important end points currently used to evaluate the effects of toxicants on fish.
