Rapid recovery of the cortisol response following social subordination in rainbow trout

•Subordinate trout regained a normal cortisol response when separated from a dominant conspecific.•'Recovered' subordinates retained aspects of subordinate behaviour, such as low food intake.•'Recovered' subordinates failed to achieve metabolic recovery.•Thus, stress axis recovery precedes behavioural recovery from social subordination.

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) confined in pairs form social hierarchies in which distinctive behavioural and physiological phenotypes distinguish dominant from subordinate fish. In particular, subordinate fish are characterized by inhibition of behaviours such as feeding and activity, by low growth rates, and by chronic elevation of circulating glucocorticoid stress hormone (cortisol) concentrations. To evaluate the ability of trout to recover from chronic social stress, pairs of fish were allowed to interact for 4 d, and subordinate fish were then separated from dominant fish. Recovery was assessed using behavioural (position in the tank, latency to feed, and food consumed) and physiological (plasma cortisol and glucose concentrations, liver glycogen content, hepatosomatic index, specific growth rate, and gall bladder mass) indices. During 48 or 96 h of recovery from the 4 d interaction period, only plasma cortisol and glucose levels of subordinates returned to baseline values consistent with those of dominant and sham trout (fish that were handled like paired fish but housed singly). All other physiological variables failed to recover, likely owing to the absence of behavioural recovery, including continued inhibition of food intake even following separation from the dominant fish. Whereas subordinate fish exhibited an attenuated cortisol response to an acute netting stressor, 'recovered' subordinates mounted a cortisol response that was equivalent to those of dominant and sham fish. However, 'recovered' subordinates that were paired with a socially naïve conspecific were unable to achieve non-subordinate status. Collectively, these results indicate that recovery of the cortisol response precedes behavioural recovery from social subordination.