Fluoxetine

About Fluoxetine: 

• It is a common antidepressant medication.
• It inhibits the uptake of serotonin by nerve cells (neurons) and helps people with depression, panic, anxiety, or obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
• Effects of fluoxetine
  • At low concentrations, fluoxetine reduces activity levels and increased refuge-seeking behaviour in male guppy fish.
  • It also altered their body condition, increased the size of their reproductive organs, and reduced sperm velocity. These effects could have significant implications for mating success and reproductive fitness in polluted waters.
  • Fluoxetine exposure reduced behavioural plasticity in the fish, suppressing within-individual variation in both activity and refuge.
  • Individual fishes are behaving more rigidly, potentially limiting their ability to respond flexibly to their environment. 
  • High fluoxetine concentrations increased variation in body condition between individuals, while low concentrations increased variation in sperm numbers. 

Key facts about Guppy Fish

• These are a small, pretty species of fish that are extremely popular for home aquariums.
• These are a species of small tropical freshwater fish.
• These are sexually dimorphic, meaning there are distinct differences between males and females of the species.
• Male guppies are brightly colored in shades of black, green, orange, red, white, and yellow and have patterns like speckles, spots, and stripes.
• Distribution: Guppies are native to certain countries and islands in South America: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Brazil, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. 

Q1: What is a neuron?

These are also known as a nerve cell, is a specialized cell in the nervous system that is responsible for transmitting information through electrical and chemical signals. Neurons are the basic building blocks of the nervous system and play a crucial role in processing and transmitting information within the body.

Source: Pharmaceutical pollutants altering fish behaviour, reproductive patterns and life history: Study