Fish behavioral types and their ecological consequences

Abstract

Fish have proven to be model organisms for the study of animal personalities, and a rich literature documents consistent interindividual behavioral differences in a variety of species. However, relatively few studies have examined the ecological consequences of such consistent interindividual differences in behaviors in fish or other organisms, especially under field conditions. In this review and perspective, we discuss the factors that may lead to the formation and maintenance of behavioral types in fish populations. We then examine what is known about the effects of personality variation on individual growth and survival, breeding behaviors and reproductive success, habitat use, diet, and ontogenetic niche shifts, migration and dispersal, as well as potential consequences for species interactions and ecosystem functioning. We focus as much as possible on studies conducted under natural or seminatural conditions, as such field studies are most relevant to elucidating the ecological consequences of behavioral variation. Finally, we discuss the potential importance of consistent individual differences in behaviors to fisheries management and conservation, specifically examining consequences for recreational and commercial fishing, hatchery rearing, and stock enhancement.

The Psychology of Cows

“…Studies of nonhuman animals have shown that personality traits are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom; a wide range of fish (Mittelbach, Ballew, & Kjelvik, 2014;Toms, Echevarria, & Jouandot, 2010), birds (e.g., chickens, Gallus gallus domesticus, Favati, Leimar, & Lovlie, 2014; zebra finches, Taeniopygia guttata, David, Auclair, & Cezilly, 2011, Schuett, Dall, & Royle, 2011Japanese quail, Coturnix japonica, Miller, Garner, & Mench, 2006), numerous mammal species (e.g., pigs, Sus domesticus, Marino & Colvin, 2015;horses, Equus caballus, Hausberger, Bruderer, Le Scolan, & Pierre, 2004;dogs, Canis familiaris, Svartberg, Tapper, Temrin, Radesäter, & Thorman, 2005;cats, Felis catus, Bennett, Rutter, Woodhead, & Howell, 2017;nonhuman primates, Freeman & Gosling, 2010); reptiles and amphibians (Allard, Fuller,Torgerson-White, & Murray, 2015;Burghardt, 2013), and invertebrates (Kralj-Fišer & Schuett, 2014, for a review) show persistent individual differences that can be organized along core personality dimensions, many of which overlap with those found in humans (Gosling, 2008;Gosling & John, 1999). Vonk, Weiss, and Kuczaj (2017) offer a comprehensive and upto-date review of personality in nonhuman animals.…”

Behavioural variation in Eurasian perch populations with respect to relative catchability

“…consistent behavioural differences among individuals across time and different contexts, have been of high interest among behavioural ecologists during the last decade (Sih et al 2004;Réale et al 2010;Stamps and Groothuis 2010;Mittelbach et al 2014). Recently, they have also received increasing attention in applied contexts, such as among studies on harvesting-induced evolutionary changes (Wilson et al 2011;Binder et al 2012;Härkönen et al 2014).…”

Evolution of boldness and life history in response to selective harvesting

“…A plethora of recent studies has revealed that fishes indeed reveal less plasticity in their behaviors than previously believed, forming stable among-individual differences in 144 behavioral types (Conrad et al 2011;Mittelbach et al 2014). One of the key personality traits in animals in general is boldness (Réale et al 2007), which is often correlated with 146 other personality traits such as aggression, exploration, sociability or activity, thereby 8 creating behavioral syndromes (Sih et al 2004).…”