Food deprivation reduces social interest in the European sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax [RESEARCH ARTICLE]

This study examined to what extent food deprivation modulates fish risk-taking and social behaviours, as well as the relationship between them. To address these issues, juvenile European sea bass were either fed daily with a maintenance ration or food deprived for a period of 3 weeks. Risk taking and sociability were assessed through measurements of fish willingness to explore a novel environment, and to interact with a novel object or a conspecific. Multivariate analysis allowed the identification of three behaviours: risk taking, exploratory activity and solitariness. Food-deprived fish interacted less with conspecifics than control fish; however, no difference in terms of risk taking and exploratory patterns was observed. Finally, the relationship between risk taking and solitariness was influenced by feeding status. When food-deprived, fish with a higher propensity to take risk displayed increased solitariness, while when fed normally, they interacted more with conspecifics.
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research