ORCID

Abstract

Commercial overexploitation and climate change can alter the physiology and behavior of marine organisms, although intraspecific phenotypic responses to such changes can vary greatly depending on the environment, species, and severity of the stressor. Under the pace-of-life syndrome (POLS) hypothesis, behavior, physiology, and life-history traits are linked, and thus, affected by selection targeting any aspect of organismal biology. However, these links are understudied in tropical marine fishes, and further work is needed to better understand the impacts of fisheries and climate change on wild stocks. Moreover, tropical regions have a greater reliance on fisheries; thus investigations should focus on species with substantial socioeconomic value to ensure benefits at the local level. This study aimed to address this need by measuring the behavior (boldness and activity), metabolism, and swimming performance (using a critical swim speed [Ucrit] test) of schoolmaster snapper Lutjanus apodus in Eleuthera, the Bahamas. We report a strong positive correlation between boldness and activity, high repeatability of these behavioral metrics, and two groupings that were consistent with “proactive” and “reactive” behavioral types. These behavioral types differed significantly in their swimming performance, with reactive individuals having a 13.1% higher mean Ucrit. In contrast, no significant differences were found in the measured metabolic parameters between behavioral types. This study is the first to investigate the intraspecific links between behavior and physiology in a snapper species, using the novel and ecologically relevant comparison of Ucrit with behavioral syndrome types. These data suggest that additional research is needed to better predict the success of proactive/reactive tropical fish if overexploited and as influenced by climate change.

Publication Date

2024-09-09

Publication Title

Journal of Fish Biology

Volume

105

Issue

6

ISSN

0022-1112

Acceptance Date

2024-07-26

Deposit Date

2025-05-07

Embargo Period

2025-09-09

Funding

Peter Malorey conceived the initial idea, experimental design, and methods, although Alexander D.M. Wilson, Emma S. Porter, A. Kurt Gamperl, and Mark Briffa all contributed to the final experimental design and setup. Alexander D.M. Wilson and Mark Briffa assisted remotely on the behavioral experimental setup, whereas Emma S. Porter and A. Kurt Gamperl provided theoretical and practical knowledge; Emma S. Porter helped with the U experiments. Data collection, tabulation, and analysis were all handled by Peter Malorey, with all authors contributing expertise where necessary. The first draft of this manuscript was prepared by Peter Malorey, and all authors contributed to its revision prior to submission. Funding for this research was provided by the University of Plymouth, the Cape Eleuthera Institute (CEI), and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant (number: 2022\u201003790) to A. Kurt Gamperl. crit Funding was collaborative effort between The University of Plymouth, The Cape Eleuthera Foundation, and a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Grant (#2022\u201003790) which was awarded to Dr. A. Kurt Gamperl of the Gamperl Lab. The Island School and specifically the CEI staff were instrumental to the completion of this research. A special mention goes to Dr. Eric Schneider and Dr. Nick Higgs, whose efforts enabled this project to go ahead. Moreover, as fish trapping was an essential part of this research, a big thank-you goes to Dr. Natascha Wosnick, Dr. Imogen Napper, Alexis Saunders, Alex Brown, and the Island School interns for their assistance on the boat in the early and late hours of the day. We would also like to thank Julie Nati of the Gamperl Laboratory at Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador for her assistance in the wet laboratory and discussions on experimental methodology.

Keywords

behavioral syndrome, POLS, proactive, reactive, U

First Page

1811

Last Page

1829

Download

Share

COinS