You eat what you are: personality-dependent filial cannibalism in a fish with paternal care.

ABSTRACT: Many animal parents invest heavily to ensure offspring survival, yet some eventually consume some or all of their very own young. This so-called filial cannibalism is known from a wide range of taxa, but its adaptive benefit remains largely unclear. The extent to which parents cannibalize their broods varies substantially not only between species, but also between individuals, indicating that intrinsic behavioral differences, or animal personalities, might constitute a relevant proximate trigger for filial cannibalism. Using a marine fish with extensive paternal care, the common goby (Pomatoschistus microps), we investigated the influence of animal personality on filial cannibalism by assessing (1) behavioral consistency across a breeding and a nonbreeding context; (2) correlations between

SUBMITTER: Vallon M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4775538 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature