The zebrafish alarm response as embodied semiosis: An approach between enactivism and biosemiotics
PsyArXiv June 11, 2026 Thaeny Regina Ribeiro Rodrigues, Diego Frank Marques Cavalcante, Caio Maximino preprint
Animal behavior is not just mechanical reaction to stimuli but involves active meaning-making. This paper combines two theories—enactivism and biosemiotics—to argue that animals interpret signs in their environment through embodied interaction. The alarm reaction of zebrafish to conspecific alarm substance is analyzed as a semiotic process: the chemical signal is a sign that points to predation risk, and its meaning arises from the fish's sensorimotor engagement with its social and ecological context. This 'embodied semiosis' occurs at individual and collective levels, as shoals collectively interpret danger. The framework offers testable predictions and an alternative to purely representational accounts of adaptive behavior, applicable across species including humans.