Personality in juvenile Atlantic cod ecotypes and implications for
fisheries management.
Abstract
Animals show among-individual variation in behaviours, including
migration behaviours, which are often repeatable across time periods and
contexts, commonly termed “personality”. These behaviours can be
correlated, forming a behavioural syndrome. In this study, we assessed
the repeatability and correlation of different behavioural traits i.e.,
boldness, exploration and sociality and the link to migration patterns
in Atlantic cod juveniles. To do so, we collected repeated measurements
within two short-term (three days) and two long-term (two months)
intervals of these traits and genotypes of the Pan I locus, which is
indirectly correlated to feeding migration patterns in this species. We
found that mainly exploration behaviour was repeatable in the short- and
long-term intervals, and a trend for the relationship between
exploration and the Pan I locus. Boldness and sociality were only
repeatable in the second short-term interval indicating a possible
development of stability over time and did not show a relation with the
Pan I locus. We found no indication of behavioural syndromes among the
studied traits. Although we were unable to identify the existence of a
migration syndrome for the migratory genotype (Pan IBB), this study is
the first one to highlight the existence of a possible link between the
personality trait exploration and the migration-linked Pan I locus. This
supports the need for further research that should focus on the effect
of exploration tendency and other personality traits on cod movement,
including the migratory (frontal) ecotype, to develop management
strategies based on behavioural units, rather than treating the
population as a single homogeneous stock.