Assessment of Swim Endurance and Swim Behavior in Adult Zebrafish

Adult zebrafish are an excellent model for studying spinal cord regeneration because they can regain swim function after injury. This study uses behavioral assays to measure swim endurance and behavior in adult zebrafish after spinal cord transection. To assess swim endurance, zebrafish are subjected to increasing water current until exhaustion, and the time until exhaustion is recorded. For swim behavior, the fish are exposed to low current velocities, and videos are captured to analyze activity, burst frequency, and time spent swimming against the current. The study found that zebrafish lose swim function after spinal cord transection but gradually regain it over 2-6 weeks. These methods can be used in studies of neurobehavioral, musculoskeletal, and neural regeneration.

• 1
  Wild-type zebrafish swam for 41 minutes before exhaustion, establishing a baseline for motor function.
• 2
  Lesioned fish lost 60% of their swim endurance capacity at 2 weeks post-injury, but gradually regained swim endurance at 4 and 6 weeks post-injury.
• 3
  Injured fish at 2 weeks post-injury were markedly less active, stalled in the rear quadrant of the swim tunnel, and lost their ability to swim against low current velocities.