Who will become dominant? Investigating the roles of individual behaviour, body size, and environmental predictability in brown trout fry hierarchies
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1515/eje-2017-0020Keywords:
Behavioural variation, Salmonids, Dominance hierarchies, Growth, ColourationAbstract
This paper presents a study investigating performance of brown trout fry, with different behavioural characteristics, in environments differing in food predictability. Based on previous experimental findings, we hypothesised that more active individuals would be favoured by a predictable environment, as compared to an unpredictable environment, as a consequence of being more aggressive and likely to dominate the best feeding stations. This hypothesis was not supported, as more active individuals instead tended to perform better, in terms of growth and survival, in unpredictable environments. However, this effect may stem from initial size differences, as more active fish also tended to be larger. In predictable environments, no trends between activity (or size) and performance were detected. Dominant individuals could be identified based on lighter body colouration in 9 out of 10 rearing tanks, but dominance appeared not to be related to activity score. The results highlight a potential advantage of more active and/or larger fry in unpredictable environments, while performance in predictable environments is likely depending on other phenotypic characteristics. Our general experimental approach can be useful for further developments in the investigation of performance of different ethotypes of brown trout fry.
References
Abbott, J.C. & Dill, L.M. (1985) Patterns of aggressive attack in juvenile
steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri). Canadian Journal of Fisheries
and Aquatic Sciences, 42(11), 1702–1706. DOI 10.1139/f85-213
Abbott, J.C. & Dill, L.M. (1989) The relative growth of dominant
and subordinate juvenile steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri)
fed equal rations. Behaviour, 108, 104–113. DOI
10.1163/156853989X00079.
Adriaenssens, B. & Johnsson, J.I. (2010) Shy trout grow faster: exploring
links between personality and fitness-related traits in the
wild. Behavioral Ecology, 22(1), 135–143. DOI 10.1093/beheco/
arq185.
Adriaenssens, B. & Johnsson, J.I. (2013) Natural selection, plasticity and
the emergence of a behavioural syndrome in the wild. Ecology
Letters, 16(1), 47–55. DOI 10.1111/ele.12011.
Berejikian, B.A., Tezak, E.P., Schroder, S.L., Flagg, T.A. & Knudsen,
C.M. (1999) Competitive differences between newly emerged
offspring of captive-reared and wild coho salmon. Transactions
of the American Fisheries Society, 128(5), 832–839. DOI
10.1577/1548-8659(1999)128<0832:CDBNEO>2.0.CO;2.
Elliott, J.M. (1990) Mechanisms responsible for population regulation
in young migratory trout, Salmo trutta. III. The role of territorial
behaviour. Journal of Animal Ecology, 58, 987–1001. DOI
10.2307/5015
Gibson, R.J. (2015) Some behavioural and ecological factors affecting
distribution, biomass and production of juvenile Atlantic salmon.
Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 24(3), 397–411. DOI 10.1111/
eff.12154.
Grand, T.C. & Grant, J.W.A. (1994) Spatial predictability of food influences
its monopolization and defence by juvenile convict cichlids.
Animal Behaviour, 47(1), 91–100. DOI 10.1006/anbe.1994.1010
Grant, J.W.A. (1997) Territoriality. In: Godin J-GG ed. Behavioural Ecology
of Teleost Fishes. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 81–
103.
Héland, M. (1999) Social organization and territoriality in brown trout
juveniles during ontogeny. In: Baglinière, J.L., Maisse, G. eds. Biology
and Ecology of the Brown Trout and Sea Trout. Chichester:
Praxis Publishing Ltd., 115–143.
Höjesjö, J., Adriaenssens, B., Bohlin, T., Jönsson, C., Hellström, I. &
Johnsson, J.I. (2011) Behavioural syndromes in juvenile brown
trout (Salmo trutta); life history, family variation and performance
in the wild. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65(9),
1801–1810. DOI 10.1007/s00265-011-1188-0.
Höjesjö, J., Johnsson, J.I. & Bohlin, T. (2004) Habitat complexity reduces
the growth of aggressive and dominant brown trout (Salmo
trutta) relative to subordinates. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,
56(3), 286–289. DOI 10.1007/s00265-004-0784-7.
Hoogenboom, M.O., Armstrong, J.D., Groothuis, T.G.G., & Metcalfe,
N.B. (2013) The growth benefits of aggressive behavior vary
with individual metabolism and resource predictability. Behavioral
Ecology, 24(1), 253–261. DOI 10.1093/beheco/ars161.
Johnsson, J.I., Rydeborg, A. & Sundström, L.F. (2004) Predation risk and
the territory value of cover: an experimental study. Behavioral
Ecology and Sociobiology, 56(4), 388-392.
Kalleberg, H. (1958) Observations in a stream tank of territoriality and
competition in juvenile salmon and trout (Salmo salar L. and S.
trutta L.). Report - Institute of Freshwater Research, Drottingholm,
39, 55–98.
Keenleyside, M.H.A. & Yamamoto, F.T. (1962) Territorial behaviour of
juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Behaviour, 19(1), 139–
169. DOI 10.1163/156853961X00231
Kortet, R., Vainikka, A., Janhunen, M., Piironen, J. & Hyvärinen, P.
(2014) Behavioral variation shows heritability in juvenile brown
trout Salmo trutta. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 68(6),
927–934. DOI 10.1007/s00265-014-1705-z.
McLaughlin, R.L., Ferguson, M.M. & Noakes, D.L.G. (1999) Adaptive
peaks and alternative foraging tactics in brook charr: evidence
of short-term divergent selection for sitting-and-waiting and
actively searching. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 45(5),
386–395. DOI 10.1007/s002650050575.
Näslund, J., Bererhi, B. & Johnsson, J.I. (2015) Design of emergence
test arenas can affect the results of boldness assays. Ethology,
121(6), 556–565. DOI 10.1111/eth.12368.
Näslund, J. & Johnsson, J.I. (2016) State-dependent behavior and alternative
behavioral strategies in brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) fry.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70(12), 2111–2125. DOI
10.1007/s00265-016-2215-y.
Näslund, J., Saarinen Claesson, P. & Johnsson, J.I. (2017a) Performance
of wild brown trout in relation to energetic state and lab-scored
activity during the early-life survival bottleneck. Behavioral Ecology
and Sociobiology, 71(11), 165. DOI 10.1007/s00265-017-
2395-0.
Näslund, J., Sandquist, L. & Johnsson, J.I. (2017b) Is behaviour in a
novel environment associated with bodily state in brown trout
Salmo trutta fry? Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 26(3), 462–474.
DOI 10.1111/eff.12291.
Puckett, K.J. & Dill, L.M. (1985) The energetics of feeding territoriality in
juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Behavior, 92(1),
97–111. DOI 10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.
Réale, D., Garant, D., Humphries, M.M., Bergeron, P., Careau, V. & Montiglio,
P.-O. (2010) Personality and the emergence of the paceof-
life syndrome concept at the population level. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B, 365(1560), 4051–4063. DOI
10.1098/rstb.2010.0208.
Reid, D., Armstrong, J.D. & Metcalfe, N.B. (2011) Estimated standard
metabolic rate interacts with territory quality and density
to determine the growth rates of juvenile Atlantic salmon.
Functional Ecology, 25(6), 1360–1367. DOI 10.1111/j.1365-
2435.2011.01894.x.
Roy, M.L., Roy, A.G., Grant, J.W.A. & Bergeron, N.E. (2013) Individual
variability in the movement behaviour of juvenile Atlantic salmon.
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 70(2),
339–347. DOI 10.1139/cjfas-2012-0234
Schneider, C.A., Rasband, W.S. & Eliceiri, K.W. (2012) NIH Image to ImageJ:
25 years of image analysis. Nature Methods, 9(7), 671–
675. DOI 10.1038/nmeth.2089.
Sloat, M.R. & Reeves, G.H. (2014) Demographic and phenotypic responses
of juvenile steelhead trout to spatial predictability of
food resources. Ecology, 95(9), 2423–2433. DOI 10.1890/13-
1442.1.
Titus, R.G. (1990) Territorial behavior and its role in population regulation
of young brown trout (Salmo trutta): new perspectives.
Annales Zoologici Fennici, 27, 119–130.
Walsh, R.N. & Cummins, R.A. (1976) The open-field test: a critical review.
Psychological Bulletin, 83:482–504. DOI 10.1037/0033-
2909.83.3.482.
Warnock, W.G. & Rasmussen, J.B. (2013) Assessing the effects of fish
density, habitat complexity, and current velocity on interference
competition between bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and
brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in an artificial stream. Canadian
Journal of Zoology, 91:619–625. DOI 10.1139/cjz-2013-0044.
Watt, C., Swanson, C., Miller, D., Chen, L. & May, C. (2017) Social hierarchies
override environmental conditions in determining body
colouration of brook trout. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 32(1),
575-580. DOI 10.1080/02705060.2017.1360218.
Wengström, N., Wahlqvist, F., Näslund, J., Aldvén, D., Závorka, L., Österling,
E.M. & Höjesjö, J. (2016) Do individual activity patterns of
brown trout (Salmo trutta) alter the exposure to parasitic freshwater
pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) larvae? Ethology,
122(9), 769–778. DOI 10.1111/eth.1252
Werner, E.E. & Anholt, B.R. (1993) Ecological consequences of the
trade-off between growth and mortality rates mediated by
foraging activity. American Naturalist, 142(2), 242–272. DOI
10.1086/285537
Závorka, L., Aldvén, D., Näslund, J., Höjesjö, J. & Johnsson, J.I. (2015a)
Linking lab activity with growth and movement in the wild: explaining
pace-of-life in a trout stream. Behavioral Ecology, 26(3),
877–884. DOI 10.1093/beheco/arv029.
Závorka, L., Näslund, J., Aldvén, D., Höjesjö, J. & Johnsson, J.I. (2015b)
Effects of familiarity and population density on competitive
interactions and growth: an experimental study on a territorial
salmonid fish. Ethology, 121(12), 1202–1211. DOI 10.1111/
eth.12436.
steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri). Canadian Journal of Fisheries
and Aquatic Sciences, 42(11), 1702–1706. DOI 10.1139/f85-213
Abbott, J.C. & Dill, L.M. (1989) The relative growth of dominant
and subordinate juvenile steelhead trout (Salmo gairdneri)
fed equal rations. Behaviour, 108, 104–113. DOI
10.1163/156853989X00079.
Adriaenssens, B. & Johnsson, J.I. (2010) Shy trout grow faster: exploring
links between personality and fitness-related traits in the
wild. Behavioral Ecology, 22(1), 135–143. DOI 10.1093/beheco/
arq185.
Adriaenssens, B. & Johnsson, J.I. (2013) Natural selection, plasticity and
the emergence of a behavioural syndrome in the wild. Ecology
Letters, 16(1), 47–55. DOI 10.1111/ele.12011.
Berejikian, B.A., Tezak, E.P., Schroder, S.L., Flagg, T.A. & Knudsen,
C.M. (1999) Competitive differences between newly emerged
offspring of captive-reared and wild coho salmon. Transactions
of the American Fisheries Society, 128(5), 832–839. DOI
10.1577/1548-8659(1999)128<0832:CDBNEO>2.0.CO;2.
Elliott, J.M. (1990) Mechanisms responsible for population regulation
in young migratory trout, Salmo trutta. III. The role of territorial
behaviour. Journal of Animal Ecology, 58, 987–1001. DOI
10.2307/5015
Gibson, R.J. (2015) Some behavioural and ecological factors affecting
distribution, biomass and production of juvenile Atlantic salmon.
Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 24(3), 397–411. DOI 10.1111/
eff.12154.
Grand, T.C. & Grant, J.W.A. (1994) Spatial predictability of food influences
its monopolization and defence by juvenile convict cichlids.
Animal Behaviour, 47(1), 91–100. DOI 10.1006/anbe.1994.1010
Grant, J.W.A. (1997) Territoriality. In: Godin J-GG ed. Behavioural Ecology
of Teleost Fishes. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 81–
103.
Héland, M. (1999) Social organization and territoriality in brown trout
juveniles during ontogeny. In: Baglinière, J.L., Maisse, G. eds. Biology
and Ecology of the Brown Trout and Sea Trout. Chichester:
Praxis Publishing Ltd., 115–143.
Höjesjö, J., Adriaenssens, B., Bohlin, T., Jönsson, C., Hellström, I. &
Johnsson, J.I. (2011) Behavioural syndromes in juvenile brown
trout (Salmo trutta); life history, family variation and performance
in the wild. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 65(9),
1801–1810. DOI 10.1007/s00265-011-1188-0.
Höjesjö, J., Johnsson, J.I. & Bohlin, T. (2004) Habitat complexity reduces
the growth of aggressive and dominant brown trout (Salmo
trutta) relative to subordinates. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology,
56(3), 286–289. DOI 10.1007/s00265-004-0784-7.
Hoogenboom, M.O., Armstrong, J.D., Groothuis, T.G.G., & Metcalfe,
N.B. (2013) The growth benefits of aggressive behavior vary
with individual metabolism and resource predictability. Behavioral
Ecology, 24(1), 253–261. DOI 10.1093/beheco/ars161.
Johnsson, J.I., Rydeborg, A. & Sundström, L.F. (2004) Predation risk and
the territory value of cover: an experimental study. Behavioral
Ecology and Sociobiology, 56(4), 388-392.
Kalleberg, H. (1958) Observations in a stream tank of territoriality and
competition in juvenile salmon and trout (Salmo salar L. and S.
trutta L.). Report - Institute of Freshwater Research, Drottingholm,
39, 55–98.
Keenleyside, M.H.A. & Yamamoto, F.T. (1962) Territorial behaviour of
juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Behaviour, 19(1), 139–
169. DOI 10.1163/156853961X00231
Kortet, R., Vainikka, A., Janhunen, M., Piironen, J. & Hyvärinen, P.
(2014) Behavioral variation shows heritability in juvenile brown
trout Salmo trutta. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 68(6),
927–934. DOI 10.1007/s00265-014-1705-z.
McLaughlin, R.L., Ferguson, M.M. & Noakes, D.L.G. (1999) Adaptive
peaks and alternative foraging tactics in brook charr: evidence
of short-term divergent selection for sitting-and-waiting and
actively searching. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 45(5),
386–395. DOI 10.1007/s002650050575.
Näslund, J., Bererhi, B. & Johnsson, J.I. (2015) Design of emergence
test arenas can affect the results of boldness assays. Ethology,
121(6), 556–565. DOI 10.1111/eth.12368.
Näslund, J. & Johnsson, J.I. (2016) State-dependent behavior and alternative
behavioral strategies in brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) fry.
Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 70(12), 2111–2125. DOI
10.1007/s00265-016-2215-y.
Näslund, J., Saarinen Claesson, P. & Johnsson, J.I. (2017a) Performance
of wild brown trout in relation to energetic state and lab-scored
activity during the early-life survival bottleneck. Behavioral Ecology
and Sociobiology, 71(11), 165. DOI 10.1007/s00265-017-
2395-0.
Näslund, J., Sandquist, L. & Johnsson, J.I. (2017b) Is behaviour in a
novel environment associated with bodily state in brown trout
Salmo trutta fry? Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 26(3), 462–474.
DOI 10.1111/eff.12291.
Puckett, K.J. & Dill, L.M. (1985) The energetics of feeding territoriality in
juvenile coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch). Behavior, 92(1),
97–111. DOI 10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004.
Réale, D., Garant, D., Humphries, M.M., Bergeron, P., Careau, V. & Montiglio,
P.-O. (2010) Personality and the emergence of the paceof-
life syndrome concept at the population level. Philosophical
Transactions of the Royal Society B, 365(1560), 4051–4063. DOI
10.1098/rstb.2010.0208.
Reid, D., Armstrong, J.D. & Metcalfe, N.B. (2011) Estimated standard
metabolic rate interacts with territory quality and density
to determine the growth rates of juvenile Atlantic salmon.
Functional Ecology, 25(6), 1360–1367. DOI 10.1111/j.1365-
2435.2011.01894.x.
Roy, M.L., Roy, A.G., Grant, J.W.A. & Bergeron, N.E. (2013) Individual
variability in the movement behaviour of juvenile Atlantic salmon.
Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 70(2),
339–347. DOI 10.1139/cjfas-2012-0234
Schneider, C.A., Rasband, W.S. & Eliceiri, K.W. (2012) NIH Image to ImageJ:
25 years of image analysis. Nature Methods, 9(7), 671–
675. DOI 10.1038/nmeth.2089.
Sloat, M.R. & Reeves, G.H. (2014) Demographic and phenotypic responses
of juvenile steelhead trout to spatial predictability of
food resources. Ecology, 95(9), 2423–2433. DOI 10.1890/13-
1442.1.
Titus, R.G. (1990) Territorial behavior and its role in population regulation
of young brown trout (Salmo trutta): new perspectives.
Annales Zoologici Fennici, 27, 119–130.
Walsh, R.N. & Cummins, R.A. (1976) The open-field test: a critical review.
Psychological Bulletin, 83:482–504. DOI 10.1037/0033-
2909.83.3.482.
Warnock, W.G. & Rasmussen, J.B. (2013) Assessing the effects of fish
density, habitat complexity, and current velocity on interference
competition between bull trout (Salvelinus confluentus) and
brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in an artificial stream. Canadian
Journal of Zoology, 91:619–625. DOI 10.1139/cjz-2013-0044.
Watt, C., Swanson, C., Miller, D., Chen, L. & May, C. (2017) Social hierarchies
override environmental conditions in determining body
colouration of brook trout. Journal of Freshwater Ecology, 32(1),
575-580. DOI 10.1080/02705060.2017.1360218.
Wengström, N., Wahlqvist, F., Näslund, J., Aldvén, D., Závorka, L., Österling,
E.M. & Höjesjö, J. (2016) Do individual activity patterns of
brown trout (Salmo trutta) alter the exposure to parasitic freshwater
pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) larvae? Ethology,
122(9), 769–778. DOI 10.1111/eth.1252
Werner, E.E. & Anholt, B.R. (1993) Ecological consequences of the
trade-off between growth and mortality rates mediated by
foraging activity. American Naturalist, 142(2), 242–272. DOI
10.1086/285537
Závorka, L., Aldvén, D., Näslund, J., Höjesjö, J. & Johnsson, J.I. (2015a)
Linking lab activity with growth and movement in the wild: explaining
pace-of-life in a trout stream. Behavioral Ecology, 26(3),
877–884. DOI 10.1093/beheco/arv029.
Závorka, L., Näslund, J., Aldvén, D., Höjesjö, J. & Johnsson, J.I. (2015b)
Effects of familiarity and population density on competitive
interactions and growth: an experimental study on a territorial
salmonid fish. Ethology, 121(12), 1202–1211. DOI 10.1111/
eth.12436.
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How to Cite
Naslund, J., Berger, D., & Johnsson, J. I. (2017). Who will become dominant? Investigating the roles of individual behaviour, body size, and environmental predictability in brown trout fry hierarchies. European Journal of Ecology, 3(2), 123-133. https://doi.org/10.1515/eje-2017-0020
