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Aquatic Zoology Lab
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A lab exploring the mechanisms of sensation and behavior through the brains and nervous systems of fish.
AboutAbout the lab
Decoding the mechanisms of behavior from the nervous systems of fish.
The Aquatic Zoology Lab studies the nervous systems, sensory systems, motor systems, and behavior of fish and other aquatic animals.
To understand how fish perceive their surroundings, the lab examines their sensory organs and the circuits in the brain that process sensory information.
The Yamamoto-Hagio group studies neural circuits and motor control in fish, and the Abe group studies olfaction, vision, and the functions of neuropeptides.
The lab traces its origins to the Department of Fisheries, established in 1951 at the same time as the School of Agricultural Sciences, and today continues as a lab of the Department of Animal Sciences.
Key terms
- Neural circuit
- The wiring formed by connections among neurons, responsible for sensory processing and motor control.
- Neuropeptide
- A small molecule made of linked amino acids that neurons use for communication and regulation.
- Tetrodotoxin
- The toxic component of pufferfish. This research examines how pufferfish detect closely related substances (analogs) as odors.
NewsLab news
View More ↗ResearchResearch themes
The Aquatic Zoology Lab investigates, with a focus on the nervous system, how fish perceive their surroundings and how they generate behavior. The Yamamoto-Hagio group approaches this from fish neuroanatomy, and the Abe group from fish neurobiology and cellular neuroscience.
*Illustrative imageFish Vision and Brain Circuits
To understand how fish perceive their environment, the lab examines sensory organs and sensory-processing circuits in the brain. Using the yellowfin goby as a model fisheries species, it found that while goldfish and some other fish have two visual pathways to the telencephalon, the yellowfin goby has only one.
*Illustrative imageMechanisms Behind Unusual Behaviors
The lab focuses on frogfishes, which lure small fish with the tip of the dorsal fin; gobies, which sort food from the sand they swallow; and goatfishes, which use their barbels to find prey buried in sand. It examines the neural circuits and muscles involved.
*Illustrative imageNeural Systems of Reproduction and Sensation
To travel to spawning grounds, recognize the opposite sex, and carry out reproductive behavior, processing sensory information and making appropriate judgments is essential. The lab also examines the nervous system of the eel, an important fisheries species, from this perspective.
*Illustrative imageOlfaction, Vision, and Neuropeptides
Using medaka, pufferfish, goldfish, and other species, the lab examines how olfaction, vision, and behavior change with the breeding season and in response to chemical stimuli. It focuses on how neuropeptides regulate sensory information processing, and on how pufferfish detect, as odors, substances similar to (analogs of) the pufferfish toxin tetrodotoxin.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Aquatic Zoology Lab consist of faculty and students in the master's program and undergraduate program.As of 2026
- ProfessorNaoyuki Yamamoto
- Associate ProfessorHideki Abe
- Assistant ProfessorMaki Goto
- Assistant ProfessorHanako Hagio
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “The fish tank as environment for freshwater goldfish” AJ Gray / CC0 (cropped)
- Fish Vision and Brain Circuits: “Montastraea cavernosa (Great Star Coral) with Elacatinus oceanops (Neon Goby)” Nhobgood Nick Hobgood / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Mechanisms Behind Unusual Behaviors: “Longlure frogfish (Antennarius multiocellatus) twitching lure” Betty Wills / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Neural Systems of Reproduction and Sensation: “Green Moray Eel (Gymnothorax funebris), Cozumel” P.Lindgren / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Olfaction, Vision, and Neuropeptides: “Oryzias latipes(Hamamatsu,Shizuoka,Japan,2007)-1” Seotaro / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Crop Science Lab): “Farmers in a sweet potato garden” Emmanuel Ssekaggo / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Animal Morphology Lab): “Comparative Anatomy” SkeletonsRCool / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Plant Physiology and Morphology Lab): “Coleus Leaf Trichomes (hairs on the leaves) via Electron Microscope” Swallowtail Garden Seeds from Santa Rosa, California / CC BY 2.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Avian Bioscience Lab): “Egg incubator” Vyperx1 / Public domain (cropped)
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