Behavioural syndromes in brook charr, Salvelinus fontinalis: prey-search in the field corresponds with space use in novel laboratory situations

Abstract

Recently emerged brook charr foraging in still-water pools along the sides of streams tend to be either sedentary, feeding from the lower portion of the water column (a sit-and-wait tactic) near the stream bank, or very active, feeding from the upper portion of the water column (an active search tactic) away from the bank. We tested whether the search tactics used by charr in the field represent behavioural syndromes related to activity and space use. After quantifying the behaviour of fish in the field, focal individuals were captured and their behaviour quantified in novel environment experiments in the laboratory. In an aquarium, individuals that used an active search tactic in the field spent a higher proportion of time moving, spent less time near the aquarium bottom, and took less time to find their way out of an erect glass jar, on average, than did individuals that used a sit-and-wait tactic in the field. When presented with near-bank and open-water conditions over 6 days in the laboratory, individuals that used an active search tactic in the field remained active and altered their activity less, on average, than individuals that used a sit-and-wait tactic in the field. Immediate responses to a pebble dropped in the aquarium (simulated risk from above) were not correlated with field behaviour. The search tactics used by brook charr in the field reflect part of a behavioural syndrome related to general activity and space use, but not to startle responses. These initial, individual differences in behaviour provide important raw material for the initial stages of resource polymorphism.

Influence of prey body characteristics and performance on predator selection

“…She further suggests that how aggressive an individual is to a conspecific is often correlated with its readiness to take risks in other contexts. Arguments in favour of such ''behavioural syndromes'' have recently gained significant momentum, and have now been documented in a range of animal groups, including insects (Johnson and Sih 2007), freshwater fishes (Bell and Sih 2007;Wilson and McLaughlin 2007), birds (Dingemanse et al 2004), lizards (Stapley and Keogh 2005) and mammals (Dochtermann and Jenkins 2007). Given that size-based dominance hierarchies are commonly observed within reef fish communities during the early post-settlement period (personal observations), larger more aggressive individuals may be proactive in their behavioural decisions, making them more susceptible to certain forms of predation.…”

Are fast explorers slow reactors? Linking personality type and anti-predator behaviour

“…There is thus a need to investigate how these paradigms translate to more natural contexts such as foraging (Wilson & McLaughlin 2007), mate choice (Godin & Dugatkin 1996) and parental care (Budaev et al 1999). In particular, there are few studies investigating the relationship between personality traits and anti-predator behaviour (reviewed in Réale et al 2007), most likely because predation events are infrequently observed in nature compared with other behavioural phenomena.…”

When the going gets tough: behavioural type-dependent space use in the sleepy lizard changes as the season dries

“…First, many studies of animal personality have used captive individuals where their space use in nature cannot be addressed. Second, many previous studies suggesting that BT affects habitat preference or space use of mammals [18,22], birds [23,24], and fish [25][26][27][28] have derived their measures of space use and BT non-independently, from the same in situ movement data. For example, activity or exploration tendency (both widely used BTs) are commonly estimated from movement data, often through dimension reduction by principal component analysis (e.g.…”