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- Title
Effect of Population Density on Personality of Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii).
- Authors
Su, Li; Lu, Leiyu; Si, Mengdi; Ding, Jingjing; Li, Chunlin
- Abstract
Simple Summary: Population density is a prevalent environmental factor that influences animal behavior, yet its impact on the formation of animal personality remains largely unexplored. In this study, we reared juvenile crayfish under varying population densities and assessed their personality traits (shyness, exploration, and aggression) upon reaching sexual maturity. Our findings indicated the behavioral repeatability was widespread in crayfish at different densities. Shyness was negatively correlated with exploratory behavior in all crayfish, whereas aggression was positively correlated with exploratory behavior in medium- and high-density female crayfish, indicating the presence of behavioral syndromes within the species. Crayfish raised at medium and high densities were less shy, more exploratory, and more aggressive than low-density individuals. These findings suggest that population density can be an important factor in influencing the personality traits of animals. Personality is widely observed in animals and has important ecological and evolutionary implications. In addition to being heritable, personality traits are also influenced by the environment. Population density commonly affects animal behavior, but the way in which it shapes animal personality remains largely unknown. In this study, we reared juvenile crayfish at different population densities and measured their personality traits (shyness, exploration, and aggression) after reaching sexual maturity. Our results showed repeatability for each behavior in all treatments, except for the shyness of females at medium density. There was a negative correlation between shyness and exploration in each treatment, and aggression and exploration were positively correlated in medium- and high-density females. These indicate the presence of a behavior syndrome. On average, the crayfish raised at higher population densities were less shy, more exploratory, and more aggressive. We found no behavioral differences between the sexes in crayfish. These results suggested that population density may affect the average values of behavioral traits rather than the occurrence of personality traits. Our study highlights the importance of considering population density as a factor influencing personality traits in animals and, therefore, might help us to understand animal personality development.
- Subjects
PROCAMBARUS clarkii; CRAYFISH; POPULATION density; ANIMAL behavior; PERSONALITY; PERSONALITY development
- Publication
Animals (2076-2615), 2024, Vol 14, Issue 10, p1486
- ISSN
2076-2615
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.3390/ani14101486