Are personality traits consistent in fish? − The influence of social context
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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| Date | 2016-05 | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Castanheira Maria Filipa1, Cerqueira Marco1, Millot Sandie2, Goncalves Rui A.1, 4, Oliveira Catarina C. V.1, Conceicao Luis E. C.1, 3, Martins Catarina I. M.1 | ||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ Algarve, Ctr Ciencias Mar CCMAR, Campus Gambelas, P-8005139 Faro, Portugal. 2 : IFREMER, Lab Ressources Halieut, Pl Gaby Coll,BP 7, F-17137 Lhoumeau, France. 3 : SPAROS Lda Area Empresarial Marim, Lote C, P-8700221 Olhao, Portugal. 4 : BIOMIN Holding GmbH, Erber Campus 1, A-3131 Getzersdorf, Austria. |
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| Source | Applied Animal Behaviour Science (0168-1591) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2016-05 , Vol. 178 , P. 96-101 | ||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.applanim.2016.02.004 | ||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 20 | ||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Individual variation, Sparus aurata, Coping styles, Behavioural syndromes, Group composition, Social information | ||||||||||||
| Abstract | Individual differences in behavioural and physiological responses to challenges are progressively accepted as adaptive variation and reveal a strong degree of evolutionary conservation throughout the vertebrate taxa. Previous studies in gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata) suggested that individual differences in behaviour reflect distinct coping styles or personality, contrasting consistent traits associations. One of the traits that have been shown to be consistent over time and across context is the escape response under a restraining test. Using this trait as a proxy of personality in seabream the influence of social context in the consistency of escape behaviour was investigated. Individually tagged juvenile seabream (n = 360; 70.18 ± 11.44 g; mean ± SD) were subjected to a restraining test that consisted of keeping each fish in an emerged net for one minute. Behaviours measured in the net (latency to escape; number of escape attempts and total time spent on escaping) were collapsed into first principal component scores using Principal Components Analysis (PCA). Using the PCA scores the individuals were distributed into homogeneous groups (n = 30 each group) of proactive, reactive and intermediate. Control groups consisted of mixed groups with 1/3 of each coping style. After one month the same individuals were exposed to the same test (restraining test) to assess consistency of behavioural responses. Results indicate that homogenous groups of proactive (p = 0.086) and reactive (p = 0.159) individuals did not exhibit consistent behavioural responses as opposed to the intermediate (p = 0.028) and control groups (p < 0.001). This study thus confirms that the social context in which fish are kept significantly influence personality traits. | ||||||||||||
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