Because somatostatin is known to be an inhibitor of growth hormone release, the differences in cell size suggest a possible mechanism to account for the more rapid growth rates of subordinate and socially ascending animals compared with those of dominant or socially descending fish. burtoni increase up to threefold in volume in dominant and socially descending animals compared with cell sizes in subordinate and socially ascending fish. Specifically, somatostatin-containing neurons in the hypothalamus of H. Here we demonstrate for the first time that changes in social status cause changes in the size of neurons involved in the control of growth. We have shown previously in the African cichlid fish, Haplochromis burtoni, that changes in social status, including events such as losing or winning a territorial encounter, result in changes in somatic growth rate. Such responses typically require changes in the neural substrate responsible for particular behavioral states. Many animal species show flexible behavioral responses to environmental and social changes.
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