Body length rather than routine metabolic rate and body condition correlates with activity and risk-taking in juvenile zebrafish Danio rerio

Projekt BType , Projekt Besatzfisch , Publikation

In this study, the following hypotheses were explored using zebrafish Danio rerio: (1) individualsfrom the same cohort differ consistently in activity and risk-taking and (2) variation in activity and risk-taking is linked to individual differences in metabolic rate, body length and body condition. To examine these hypotheses, juvenile D. rerio were tested for routine metabolic rate and subsequently exposed to an open field test. Strong evidence was found for consistent among-individual differences in activity and risk-taking, which were overall negatively correlated with body length, i.e. larger D. rerio were found to be less active in a potentially dangerous open field and a similar trend was found with respect to a more direct measure of their risk-taking tendency. In contrast, routine metabolic rate and body condition were uncorrelated with both activity and risk-taking of juvenile D. rerio. These findings suggest that body length is associated with risk-related behaviours in juvenile D. rerio forwhich larger, rather than smaller, individuals may have a higher risk of predation, while the role forroutine metabolic rate is relatively limited or non-existent, at least under the conditions of the presentstudy.

Polverino, G., Bierbach, D., Killen, S., Uusi-Heikkilä, S., Arlinghaus, R. (2016). Body length rather than routine metabolic rate and body condition correlates with activity and risk-taking in juvenile zebrafish Danio rerio. Journal of Fish Biology, 89, 2251–2267


Veröffentlicht : 2016
Erschienen in : Journal of Fish Biology, 89, 2251–2267