Magnhagen Carin, Wacker Sebastian, Forsgren Elisabet, Myhre Lise Cats, Espy Elizabeth, Amundsen Trond
Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, Sweden.
Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway.
PLoS One. 2014 Mar 26;9(3):e93354. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093354. eCollection 2014.
In order to attribute the behaviour of an animal to its personality it is important to study whether certain behavioural traits show up consistently across a variety of contexts. The aim of this study was to investigate whether breeding state males of the two-spotted goby, Gobiusculus flavescens, showed consistent degree of boldness when tested in four different behaviour assays. We also wanted to investigate whether boldness varied over the breeding season in accordance with changes in male-male competition for matings. We used two standard assays (the emergence test and the open field test), and two simple assays related to threat response. Repeated runs of each of the tests were highly correlated, and we found significant correlations between all four assays. Thus, we have documented both a within and a between-context consistency in risk-taking behaviour. Furthermore, we found that goby males studied during the middle of the breeding season were bolder than males studied at the end of the season. Since male two-spotted gobies face strongly decreasing male-male competition as the season progresses, the benefit of being bold for the mating success of the males may differ over the time of the breeding season. The difference in behaviour found over the season thus corresponds well with the sexual dynamics of this model species.
为了将动物的行为归因于其个性，研究某些行为特征在各种情境下是否一致出现很重要。本研究的目的是调查在四种不同行为测试中，双斑叶虾虎鱼（Gobiusculus flavescens）处于繁殖状态的雄性是否表现出一致的大胆程度。我们还想研究大胆程度在繁殖季节是否会随着雄性之间为争夺配偶而产生的竞争变化而有所不同。我们使用了两种标准测试（出洞测试和旷场测试）以及两种与威胁反应相关的简单测试。每个测试的重复运行都高度相关，并且我们发现所有四种测试之间都存在显著相关性。因此，我们记录了冒险行为在情境内和情境间的一致性。此外，我们发现繁殖季节中期研究的虾虎鱼雄性比季节末期研究的雄性更大胆。由于随着季节推进，双斑叶虾虎鱼雄性面临的雄性间竞争急剧减少，因此对于雄性来说，大胆对交配成功的益处可能在繁殖季节的不同时间有所不同。因此，在整个季节中发现的行为差异与这种模式物种的性动态非常吻合。
