Presentation Details
| Personality of convict cichlids and competitive dominance. Steven Kiracofe, Kathleen Church. Missouri State University, Springfield, Missouri, USA |
Abstract
Many animals use dominance hierarchies to control access to contested resources. Dominant individuals tend to gain priority access to resources, and to asymmetrically exhibit aggressive behaviors towards subordinates. The formation of dominance hierarchies is often size based, with larger individuals generally outcompeting smaller individuals. However, other factors can affect dominance, such as consistent individual differences in behavior (i.e., personality). In this project, groups of same-size convict cichlids (N=9 fish) competed within 4 different subgroups (N=3 fish), where they underwent group feeding trials to evaluate their competitive dominance. Dominant fish were identified by their higher food consumption and increased number of chases toward conspecifics. Fish were tagged with subcutaneous elastomer to identify individual fish, and underwent repeated personality tests before and after the group feeding trials to assess personality traits (activity, exploration, aggression, shyness/boldness). Preliminary results show that dominance rankings are somewhat consistent across groups, although the relationship between individual personality traits and dominance is variable.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
Content Locked. Log into a registered attendee account to access this presentation.