Investigating personality in Juvenile Lemon Sharks (Negaprion brevirostris).

Animal personality has gained a lot of interest in the last decade and it is now clear that most animals (from vertebrates to invertebrates) have a personality. Personality in animals represents behavioral consistency, meaning for instance that a bold individual will stay bold in every situation relative to a shyer individual. The recent boom in personality studies comes from the far reaching implications from both an evolutionary as well as an ecological point of view.

It is therefore important to investigate the presence of behavioral consistency in elasmobranches. This project is based on behavioral observations in different contexts such as sociability, novel environments and novel object inspection. In order to better understand the impact and place of personality, behavior will be investigated in both the captive environment and in the field. Furthermore the effect of personality with ecological factors such as survival and growth rate will also be tested by carrying out regular surveys of the study areas.

For more information, please contact Jean-Sebastien Finger at js.finger@yahoo.fr

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