Evidence for the Stepwise Behavioral Response Model (SBRM): the effects of Carbamate Pesticides on medaka (Oryzias latipes) in an online monitoring system

The Stepwise Behavioral Response Model (SBRM), which is a conceptual model, postulated that an organism displays a time-dependent sequence of compensatory Stepwise Behavioral Response (SBR) during exposure to pollutants above their respective thresholds of resistance. In order to prove the model, in this study, the behavioral responses (BRs) of medaka (Oryzias latipes) in the exposure of Arprocarb (A), Carbofuran (C) and Methomyl (M) were analyzed in an online monitoring system (OMS). The Self-Organizing Map (SOM) was utilized for patterning the obtained behavioral data in 0.1 TU (Toxic Unit), 1 TU, 2 TU, 5 TU, 10 TU and 20 TU treatments with control. Some differences among different Carbamate Pesticides (CPs) were observed in different concentrations and the profiles of behavior strength (BS) on SOM were variable depending upon levels of concentration. The time of the first significant decrease of BS (SD-BS) was in inverse ratio to the CP concentrations. Movement behavior showed by medaka mainly included No effect, Stimulation, Acclimation, Adjustment (Readjustment) and Toxic effect, which proved SBRM as a time-dependence model based on the time series BS data. Meanwhile, it was found that SBRM showed evident stress-dependence. Therefore, it was concluded that medaka SBR was both stress-dependent and time-dependent, which supported and developed SBRM, and data mining by SOM could be efficiently used to illustrate the behavioral processes and to monitor toxic chemicals in the environment.