No abstract

Consistent individual differences in behavior [i.e., behavioral types (BTs)], are common across the animal kingdom. Consistency can make behavior an adaptive trait for mate choice decisions. Here, we present a conceptual framework to explain how and why females might evaluate a male's BT before mating. Because BTs are consistent across time or context, a male's BT can be a reliable indicator of his potential to provide direct benefits. Heritable BTs can enable informed mate choice via indirect benefits. Many key issues regarding patterns of mate choice, including sensory biases, context dependence, and assortative mating apply to BT-dependent mate choice. Understanding the relationship between BTs and mate choice may offer insights into patterns of variation and consistency common in behavioral traits. BTs and Mate ChoiceMate choice is often a key factor influencing the evolution of traits [1,2]. While sexual selection via mate choice likely has a special role as a major explanation for highly elaborated ornaments, it is not only important for explaining exaggerated, sex-specific traits. A new insight is that the choosy sex (typically females) may also select a mate based on their own and their potential mate's behavioral type (BT) (see Glossary); for example, boldness, aggressiveness, exploratory tendency, or sociability [3]. An individual is said to have a BT if its behavior is consistent across time or contexts (e.g., an individual that is more aggressive than another in a foraging context, also tends to be more aggressive in the future and/or more aggressive in a mating context) [4]. If males have consistent BTs, then male behavior observed by a female at one time and context (e.g., during courtship) provides information about his likely behavior in the past and future (e.g., during parental care). Importantly, the time scale of this correlation is not part of the definition for either human or animal personalities [4,5]. More persistent BTs (e.g., over a lifetime) presumably have greater potential to be impactful, particularly for species with long-term mating associations, but even short-term consistency (e.g., from courtship to nesting or parental behavior a few weeks later) can be important [6][7][8].With regard to mechanisms of adaptive mate choice, correlations between a potential mate's past, present, and future behaviors may determine the quality and quantity of expected direct benefits that he can provide (e.g., nuptial gifts, territory, or parental care) [3]. Within a breeding season, BTs allow a female to predict a male's future behavior towards her and her offspring, which may be particularly important for species that have paternal care, including territory defense and provisioning [9,10]. While consistency to the next breeding season is not necessarily important for all species, species that engage in long-term pair bonds may rely more heavily on BTs to determine long-term compatibility [11]. Furthermore, given that BTs are heritable (about half of BT variation is attributable to additive geneti...

Interest in the measurement of metabolic rates is growing rapidly, because of the importance of metabolism in advancing our understanding of organismal physiology, behaviour, evolution and responses to environmental change. The study of metabolism in aquatic animals is undergoing an especially pronounced expansion, with more researchers utilising intermittent-flow respirometry as a research tool than ever before. Aquatic respirometry measures the rate of oxygen uptake as a proxy for metabolic rate, and the intermittent-flow technique has numerous strengths for use with aquatic animals, allowing metabolic rate to be repeatedly estimated on individual animals over several hours or days and during exposure to various conditions or stimuli. There are, however, no published guidelines for the reporting of methodological details when using this method. Here, we provide the first guidelines for reporting intermittent-flow respirometry methods, in the form of a checklist of criteria that we consider to be the minimum required for the interpretation, evaluation and replication of experiments using intermittent-flow respirometry. Furthermore, using a survey of the existing literature, we show that there has been incomplete and inconsistent reporting of methods for intermittent-flow respirometry over the past few decades. Use of the provided checklist of required criteria by researchers when publishing their work should increase consistency of the reporting of methods for studies that use intermittent-flow respirometry. With the steep increase in studies using intermittent-flow respirometry, now is the ideal time to standardise reporting of methods, so that – in the future – data can be properly assessed by other scientists and conservationists.

Interest in the measurement of metabolic rates is growing rapidly, due to the relevance of metabolism in understanding organismal physiology, behaviour, evolution, and responses to environmental change. The study of metabolism in aquatic organisms is experiencing an especially pronounced expansion, with more researchers utilizing intermittent-closed respirometry as a research tool than ever before. Despite this, there remain no published guidelines on the reporting of methodological details when using intermittent-closed respirometry. Using a survey of the existing literature, we show that this lack of recommendations has led to incomplete and inconsistent reporting of methods for intermittent-closed respirometry over the last several decades. We also provide the first guidelines for reporting such methods, in the form of a checklist of details that are the minimum required for the interpretation, evaluation, and replication of experiments using intermittent-closed respirometry. This should increase consistency of the reporting of methods for studies that use this research technique. With the steep increase in studies using intermittent-closed respirometry over the last several years, now is the ideal time to standardise the reporting of methods so that data can be properly assessed by other scientists and conservationists.