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Correlation between boldness and body mass in natural populations of the poeciliid Brachyrhaphis episcopi

2007; Wiley; Volume: 71; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1095-8649.2007.01627.x

1095-8649

Culum Brown, Felicity C. Jones, Victoria A. Braithwaite,

Plant and animal studies

The boldness of individual Brachyrhaphis episcopi , collected from regions of high and low predation, was investigated using two independent assays: (1) the time to emerge from cover and (2) the propensity to leave shoal mates and investigate a novel object. A strong correlation between the two assays was revealed such that fish that emerged from shelter sooner were also more likely to approach a novel object. This is indicative of a boldness personality axis acting across both behavioural contexts. Fish from high‐predation areas were bolder than those from low‐predation areas and males were bolder than females. A significant correlation between body mass, standard length ( L S ) and boldness score was also found. In general, bold fish had a greater body mass at a given L S than shy fish. These results suggest that personality traits are strongly influenced by population‐specific ecological variables and may have fitness consequences in wild populations.