Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Group size influences individual metabolic traits in a social fish

View ORCID ProfileEmmanuelle Chrétien, View ORCID ProfileDaniel Boisclair, View ORCID ProfileSteven J. Cooke, View ORCID ProfileShaun S. Killen
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.20.440644
Emmanuelle Chrétien
1Université de Montréal, Département de sciences biologiques, Campus MIL, 1375 Av. Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, QC, Canada H2V 0B3
4Groupe interuniversitaire en limnologie et environnement aquatique (GRIL), Département de sciences biologiques, Campus MIL, 1375 Av. Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, QC, Canada H2V 0B3
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Emmanuelle Chrétien
  • For correspondence: emmanuelle.chretien@umontreal.ca
Daniel Boisclair
1Université de Montréal, Département de sciences biologiques, Campus MIL, 1375 Av. Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, QC, Canada H2V 0B3
4Groupe interuniversitaire en limnologie et environnement aquatique (GRIL), Département de sciences biologiques, Campus MIL, 1375 Av. Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, QC, Canada H2V 0B3
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Daniel Boisclair
Steven J. Cooke
2Fish Ecology and Conservation Physiology Laboratory, Department of Biology and Institute of Environmental and Interdisciplinary Science, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, ON, Canada K1S 5B6
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Steven J. Cooke
Shaun S. Killen
3Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK G12 8QQ
4Groupe interuniversitaire en limnologie et environnement aquatique (GRIL), Département de sciences biologiques, Campus MIL, 1375 Av. Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux, Montréal, QC, Canada H2V 0B3
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Shaun S. Killen
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Supplementary material
  • Data/Code
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

  1. Group living is widespread among animal species and yields both costs and benefits. Presence of conspecifics can restrict or enhance the expression of individual behaviour, and the recent social environment is thought to affect behavioural responses in later contexts, even when individuals are alone. However, little is known about how social dynamics influence the expression of individual physiological traits, including metabolic rates.

  2. There is some evidence that shoaling can reduce fish metabolic rates, but habitat conditions such as shelter availability may generate density-dependent influences on individual metabolic rates.

  3. We investigated how social group size and availability of shelter influence Eurasian minnow Phoxinus phoxinus metabolic rates estimated by respirometry in the presence or absence of plant shelter. Respirometry trials were conducted before and after we housed fish for three weeks in a social treatment consisting in a specific group size (n= 4 or 8) and shelter availability (presence or absence of plant shelter in the holding tank).

  4. Minimum day-time and night-time metabolic rates estimated while in presence of plant shelter were lower than when estimated in absence of plant shelter, both before and after individuals were housed in their social group size and shelter availability treatment. Standard metabolic rate was higher for fish held in groups of four as compared to fish held in groups of eight while maximum metabolic rate showed no difference. Shelter availability during the social treatments did not influence standard or maximum metabolic rates.

  5. Our results suggest that group size may directly influence energy demands of individuals, highlighting the importance of understanding the role of social dynamics on variations in physiological traits associated with energy expenditure.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Footnotes

  • https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4705121

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted April 20, 2021.
Download PDF

Supplementary Material

Data/Code
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Group size influences individual metabolic traits in a social fish
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Group size influences individual metabolic traits in a social fish
Emmanuelle Chrétien, Daniel Boisclair, Steven J. Cooke, Shaun S. Killen
bioRxiv 2021.04.20.440644; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.20.440644
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Group size influences individual metabolic traits in a social fish
Emmanuelle Chrétien, Daniel Boisclair, Steven J. Cooke, Shaun S. Killen
bioRxiv 2021.04.20.440644; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.20.440644

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Physiology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3513)
  • Biochemistry (7359)
  • Bioengineering (5338)
  • Bioinformatics (20306)
  • Biophysics (10034)
  • Cancer Biology (7763)
  • Cell Biology (11331)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6444)
  • Ecology (9968)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13346)
  • Genetics (9365)
  • Genomics (12598)
  • Immunology (7718)
  • Microbiology (19059)
  • Molecular Biology (7452)
  • Neuroscience (41106)
  • Paleontology (300)
  • Pathology (1233)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2141)
  • Physiology (3171)
  • Plant Biology (6869)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1275)
  • Synthetic Biology (1899)
  • Systems Biology (5320)
  • Zoology (1090)