Individual boldness is linked to protective shell shape in aquatic snails

Ahlgren, Johan; Chapman, Ben B.; Nilsson, P. Anders; Brönmark, Christer

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2015.0029

Cited by 36 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…4 , Table 1 ), compared to inactive/resident snails. This result goes against our predictions based on the phenotypic compensation hypothesis, which states that risk-taking individuals should have better morphological defences against predators (Hulthén et al , 2014; Ahlgren et al , 2015; Kuo, Irschick & Lailvaux, 2015). However, phenotypic compensation is not a hard rule (De Winter et al , 2016), and while thicker/heavier shells are harder to break (see e.g.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Increased population density depresses activity but does not influence emigration in the snailPomatias elegans

Dahirel

Menut

Ansart

2020

Preprint

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Dispersal is a key trait linking ecological and evolutionary dynamics, allowing organisms to optimize fitness expectations in spatially and temporally heterogeneous environments. Some organisms can both actively disperse or enter a reduced activity state in response to challenging conditions, and both responses may be under a trade-off. To understand how such organisms respond to changes in environmental conditions, we studied the dispersal and activity behaviour in the gonochoric land snail Pomatias elegans, a litter decomposer that can reach very high local densities, across a wide range of ecologically relevant densities. We found that crowding up to twice the maximal recorded density had no detectable effect on dispersal tendency in this species, contrary to previous results in many hermaphroditic snails. Pomatias elegans is nonetheless able to detect population density; we show they reduce activity rather than increase dispersal in response to crowding. We discuss these results based on the ability of many land snails to enter dormancy for extended periods of time in case of unfavourable conditions. We propose that dormancy (“dispersal in time”) may be more advantageous in species with especially poor movement abilities, even by land mollusc standards, like P. elegans. Interestingly, dispersal and activity were correlated independently of density; this dispersal syndrome may reflect a dispersal-dormancy trade-off at the individual level. Additionally, we found snails with heavier shells relative to their size tended to be less mobile, which may reflect physical and metabolic constraints on movement and/or survival during inactivity. We finally discuss how the absence of density-dependent dispersal may explain why P. elegans is often found at very high local densities, and the possible consequences for ecosystem functioning and litter decomposition.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Increased population density depresses activity but does not influence emigration in the snailPomatias elegans

Dahirel

Menut

Ansart

2020

Preprint

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“…Fish populations in high predation risk environments typically show impaired cognitive abilities in foraging tasks (Brown and Braithwaite 2005;Brydges et al 2008;Beri et al 2014). Within the same population, individuals often show differential allocation between resource exploitations and predator defence, in both morphological and behavioural traits (Dyer et al 2009;Jones and Godin 2010;Ahlgren et al 2015). A similar individual variation in the allocation of resources between cognitive functions devoted to foraging and predator defence could explain the individual differences in performances observed in our experiment on guppies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 70%

Individual guppies differ in quantity discrimination performance across antipredator and foraging contexts

Lucon‐Xiccato

Dadda

2016

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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The ability to discriminate between different quantities is useful to an animal since it allows adaptive decisions in several contexts. In humans, some individuals are generally better at solving different numerical and mathematical problems, but we currently ignore whether other species also show individual differences in quantitative abilities across different contexts. Aiming to investigate this possibility, we observed the performances of individual guppies (Poecilia reticulata) in an antipredator task that required the discrimination between shoals made of a different number of conspecifics (4 versus 6 fish) and, successively, in two foraging tasks that required the discrimination between different numbers of food items (4 versus 6 items) and food items with different sizes (0.67 ratio between the two surface areas). Overall, guppies achieved comparable performances in the discrimination of shoal size and food item size, but showed reduced accuracy in the discrimination between different numbers of food items. Performances of guppies were correlated between the discrimination of shoal size and food item size, suggesting the existence of individual differences in quantity discrimination abilities in different contexts in this species. Unexpectedly, this relationship was negative, and some guppies were better in the antipredator task, while others were better in the foraging task. Our results agree with the general trend of the literature on animals that suggests the existence of multiple cognitive functions whose activation are task specific, and also introduce the possibility that some of these functions are subject to constraints. Significance statementIn this work, we provided the first clear evidence of individual differences in the ability to solve quantity discriminations in a fish. Guppies were observed in three quantity discrimination tasks: recognising and joining the larger shoal of conspecifics among two options, a behaviour that confers protection from predators; selecting the larger number of food items between two sets; and selecting the food item with larger size. Guppies that were more accurate in the shoal size discrimination achieved lower scores in the food item size discrimination. Some individuals gain advantage from cognitive abilities that confer defence against predators, while other individuals from those abilities that improve foraging success.

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“…Thus, seemingly unrelated traits like locomotor ability and personality can indeed coevolve. Overall, this study represents one of the earliest documentations of correlations between animal personalities and either whole-body morphology or locomotor performance (Ahlgren, Chapman, Nilsson, & Brönmark, 2015; Hulthén, Chapman, Nilsson, Hollander, & Brönmark, 2014; Müller & von Keyserlingk, 2006). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 91%

Correlated evolution of personality, morphology and performance

et al. 2016

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Evolutionary change in one trait can elicit evolutionary changes in other traits due to genetic correlations. This constrains the independent evolution of traits and can lead to unpredicted ecological and evolutionary outcomes. Animals might frequently exhibit genetic associations among behavioural and morphological-physiological traits, because the physiological mechanisms behind animal personality can have broad multitrait effects and because many selective agents influence the evolution of multiple types of traits. However, we currently know little about genetic correlations between animal personalities and nonbehavioural traits. We tested for associations between personality, morphology and locomotor performance by comparing zebrafish (Danio rerio) collected from the wild and then selectively bred for either a proactive or reactive stress coping style (‘bold’ or ‘shy’ phenotypes). Based on adaptive hypotheses of correlational selection in the wild, we predicted that artificial selection for boldness would produce correlated evolutionary responses of larger caudal regions and higher fast-start escape performance (and the opposite for shyness). After four to seven generations, morphology and locomotor performance differed between personality lines: bold zebrafish exhibited a larger caudal region and higher fast-start performance than fish in the shy line, matching predictions. Individual-level phenotypic correlations suggested that pleiotropy or physical gene linkage likely explained the correlated response of locomotor performance, while the correlated response of body shape may have reflected linkage disequilibrium, which is breaking down each generation in the laboratory. Our results indicate that evolution of personality can result in concomitant changes in morphology and whole-organism performance, and vice versa.

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Individual boldness is linked to protective shell shape in aquatic snails

Cited by 36 publications

References 25 publications

Increased population density depresses activity but does not influence emigration in the snailPomatias elegans

Increased population density depresses activity but does not influence emigration in the snailPomatias elegans

Individual guppies differ in quantity discrimination performance across antipredator and foraging contexts

Correlated evolution of personality, morphology and performance

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