Search

Like terrestrial animals, wild fish exhibit individual differences in daily activity patterns, known as chronotypes. However, monitoring free-living fish has posed challenges in studying chronotypes and their plasticity in response to the environment. To address this issue, we utilized high-throughput telemetry to measure daily activity in a large group of free-living pearly razorfish, Xyrichtys novacula, while also monitoring fine-scale environmental variables. Using hidden Markov models for behavioural segmentation, we quantified four circadian-related traits (awakening time, rest onset, activity duration relative to the daytime and rest midpoint relative to middle of the night) during two biological contexts (prespawning and spawning). We then used linear mixed-effects models to decompose the variation of these traits into individual, ecological (contextual environment) and population components. Our findings revealed the presence of chronotypes in both sexes, with greater between-individual variation in behaviour during spawning. Males exhibited longer activity duration due to an earlier awakening time than females, and temperature, waves and light significantly influenced daily activity behaviours. However, there was considerable individual variation in response to environmental changes, indicating the emergence of behavioural reaction norms (i.e. plasticity), with females showing greater plasticity in rest onset and relative rest midpoint. Our study also identified significant correlations among traits, suggesting that the activity duration continuum defines the pearly razorfish chronotype. Overall, our work represents the most comprehensive description of individual and ecological contextual variation in chronotypes within a wild marine fish population. It underscores the importance of environmental fluctuations in shaping the expression of internal clocks.

Recent technological advances in marine biotelemetry have demonstrated that marine fish species perform activity-rest rhythms that have relevant ecological and evolutionary consequences. The main objective of the present report is to study the circadian rhythm of activity-rest of the pearly razorfish, Xyrichtys novacula in its own habitat, before and during the reproduction season using a novel biotelemetry system. This fish species is a small-bodied marine species that inhabits most shallow soft habitats of temperate areas and has a high interest for commercial and recreational fisheries. The activity of free-living fish was monitored by means of high-resolution acoustic tracking of the motor activity of the fish in one-minute intervals. The obtained data allowed the definition of the circadian rhythm of activity-rest in terms of classical non-parametric values: interdaily stability (IS), intradaily variability (IV), relative amplitude (RA), average activity during the most-active period of consecutive 10 h (M10), and average activity during the least-active period of consecutive 5 h (L5). We observed a well-marked rhythm, with little fragmentation and good synchrony with the environmental cycle of light-darkness, regardless of sex and the period studied. However, the rhythm was found to be slightly more desynchronized and fragmented during reproduction because of variations in the photoperiod. In addition, we found that the activity of the males was much higher than that of the females (p < 0.001), probably due to the peculiar behavior of the males in defending the harems they lead. Finally, the time at which activity began in males was slightly earlier than it was in females (p < 0.001), presumably due to the same fact, as differences in activity or for the individual heterogeneity of this species in the time of awakening are considered to be an independent axis of the fish's personality. Our work is novel, as it is one of the first studies of activity-rest rhyth

Chronotypes, the individual differences in daily activity timing, have profound associations with numerous physiological processes. Despite this, the covariance between chronotypes and other aspects of an individual's behaviour has been infrequently explored in non-human animals. This study delves into individual's variation across four axes of personality in a controlled environment, utilising the pearly razorfish, a model species for fish chronotype studies. We identified behavioural types across the aggressiveness continuum and established behavioural syndromes amongst exploration, activity, and boldness, irrespective of body size and condition. Subsequent to this, the experimental subjects were reintroduced to their natural habitat and individually tracked using high-resolution technology to ascertain their chronotypes. Our results revealed that whilst the exploration-activity-boldness syndrome bore no correlation with chronotypes, a significant association was observed between aggressiveness and chronotype. Hence, individuals with later awakening times and rest onsets were more aggressive than their counterparts with earlier awakening times and rest onsets. This study provides pioneering evidence linking fish chronotypes with other behavioural traits, such as aggressiveness, suggesting that behavioural variation could be potentially linked to the individuals' variation in internal clocks and the environmental variables influencing their expression.

[EN] Oscine birdsong signals species identity, and individual quality, and functions as a cue for mate selection. Thus, producing an atypical song may have deleterious fitness effects. Nevertheless, learning during song development deems the vocal phenotype labile, creating the potential for errors, which may be elevated by developmental stress. Indeed, developmental stress has been shown to interfere with song learning in laboratory studies, but in the field, developmental conditions are rarely known, and knowledge of reproductive success is typically also lacking. We report on a male White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) that we observed producing an atypical song comprised of a sparrow-like introductory phrase followed by a normal song. We banded this male as a nestling and observed potentially stressful developmental conditions that may have elevated the chances for learning errors. Specifically, this male hatched last in an asynchronous second clutch of three eggs, was structurally smaller than his siblings and fledged at nearly the latest date documented during that season. As an adult, he was unsuccessful at securing a social mate or extra-pair paternity, suggesting that females selected against his atypical vocal phenotype. Our observations of this unique individual support a connection between developmental stress, atypical song, and fitness outcomes., [ES] El canto de los oscines señala la identidad de la especie y la calidad individual, y funciona como una señal para la selección de pareja. Por ello, producir un canto atípico puede tener efectos perjudiciales para el éxito biológico. Sin embargo, el aprendizaje durante el período de desarrollo del canto hace que el fenotipo vocal sea lábil, creando la posibilidad de errores, que pueden ser elevados por el estrés del desarrollo. De hecho, se ha demostrado que el estrés en el desarrollo interfiere con el aprendizaje del canto en estudios de laboratorio, pero en el campo, las condiciones de desarrollo rara vez se conocen, y el conocimiento del éxito reproductivo también suele ser escaso. Presentamos el caso de un macho de Chingolo gorjiblanco (Zonotrichia albicollis) al que observamos producir un canto atípico compuesto por una frase introductoria similar a la de un gorrión, seguida de un canto normal. Anillamos a este macho cuando era un polluelo y observamos condiciones de desarrollo potencialmente estresantes que pueden haber elevado las posibilidades de errores de aprendizaje. En concreto, este macho fue el último en eclosionar de una segunda nidada asincrónica de tres huevos, era estructuralmente más pequeño que sus hermanos y voló casi en la fecha más tardía documentada durante esa temporada. De adulto, no consiguió pareja social ni paternidad fuera de la pareja, lo que sugiere que las hembras seleccionaron contra su atípico fenotipo vocal. Nuestras observaciones de este individuo único apoyan una conexión entre el estrés del desarrollo, el canto atípico y los resultados de la aptitud biológica.

Novel insights were provided by contrasting the composition of wild and farmed fish gut microbiomes because the latter had essentially different environmental conditions from those in the wild. This was reflected in the gut microbiome of the wild Sparus aurata and Xyrichtys novacula studied here, which showed highly diverse microbial community structures, dominated by Proteobacteria, mostly related to an aerobic or microaerophilic metabolism, but with some common shared major species, such as Ralstonia sp. On the other hand, farmed non-fasted S. aurata individuals had a microbial structure that mirrored the microbial composition of their food source, which was most likely anaerobic, since several members of the genus Lactobacillus, probably revived from the feed and enriched in the gut, dominated the communities. The most striking observation was that after a short fasting period (86 h), farmed gilthead seabream almost lost their whole gut microbiome, and the resident community associated with the mucosa had a very much reduced diversity that was highly dominated by a single potentially aerobic species Micrococcus sp., closely related to M. flavus. The results pointed to the fact that, at least for the juvenile S. aurata studied, most of the microbes in the gut were transient and highly dependent on the feed source, and that only after fasting for at least 2 days could the resident microbiome in the intestinal mucosa be determined. Since an important role of this transient microbiome in relation to fish metabolism could not be discarded, the methodological approach needs to be well designed in order not to bias the results. The results have important implications for fish gut studies that could explain the diversity and occasional contradictory results published in relation to the stability of marine fish gut microbiomes, and might provide important information for feed formulation in the aquaculture industry.

This dataset encompasses all necessary data required to replicate the study, `Chronotypes-Personality behavioural syndromes in wild fish’. The data were obtained through standardised behavioural tests conducted under laboratory conditions on 63 Pearly Razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula) individuals between April and July of 2019. Over a week, the fish were maintained in isolated aquariums to test their behaviours, including exploration, activity, boldness, and aggression, conducted daily. A Raspberry Pi system, equipped with the YOLOv5 deep-learning automatic tracking algorithm, was used to record these tests and calculate the fish's minute-by-minute position, providing essential data for evaluating exploration and activity. This system also stored videos to retrospectively obtain boldness and aggression data. Each test included only those individuals with at least two measurements. After the laboratory period, the fish were tagged with acoustic tags and returned to the sea to measure their chronotypes; only individuals with at least seven consecutive days of data were considered. The chronotype data, obtained from a previous study, are represented here through the previously derived scores. These laboratory-based experimental data were analysed using R software. In the exploration context, positional data were translated into total active time (TimeOut), minimum distance to the toy (MinDistance), and time spent near the toy (TimeToy). For activity, the data were converted into total active time (TimeOut), total distance covered (Distance), areas (CoreArea and Area), and direction angles (MeanAngle and KappaAngle). A Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was conducted to obtain the scores for exploration, activity, and aggressiveness. Upon acquiring these scores, trait repeatability was computed using a Linear Mixed-Effects Model, fitting the experimental day (Day), the total length of the individual (Size), and the internal condition (Condition) as fixed factors, and the i

The ocean is a key component of the Earth’s dynamics, providing a great variety of ecosys- tem services to humans. Yet, human activities are globally changing its structure and major components, including marine biodiversity. In this context, the United Nations has proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to tackle the scientific challenges necessary for a sustainable use of the ocean by means of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14). Here, we review how Acoustic animal Tracking, a widely distributed methodology of tracking marine biodiversity with electronic devices, can provide a roadmap for implementing the major Actions to achieve the SDG14. We show that acoustic tracking can be used to reduce and monitor the effects of marine pollution including noise, light, and plastic pollution. Acoustic tracking can be effectively used to monitor the responses of marine biodiversity to human-made infrastructures and habitat restoration, as well as to determine the effects of hypoxia, ocean warming, and acidification. Acoustic tracking has been historically used to inform fisheries man- agement, the design of marine protected areas, and the detection of essential habitats, rendering this technique particularly attractive to achieve the sustainable fishing and spatial protection target goals of the SDG14. Finally, acoustic tracking can contribute to end illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by providing tools to monitor marine biodiversity against poachers and promote the development of Small Islands Developing States and developing countries. To fully benefit from acoustic tracking supporting the SDG14 Targets, trans-boundary collaborative efforts through tracking networks are required to promote ocean information sharing and ocean literacy. We therefore propose acoustic tracking and tracking networks as relevant contributors to tackle the scientific challenges that are necessary for a sustainable use of the ocean promoted by the United N

This dataset contains the necessary data to replicate the work entitled 'Circadian-related behavioural types in free-living marine fish revealed by high-throughput telemetry'. The data were obtained through a high-resolution acoustic telemetry experiment tracking a population of pearly razorfish between April and September 2019. The time series of detections were imported into the R computing environment. We discretized the detections generated by the individuals into bins of 5 minutes (time-steps). We fitted a Hidden Markov Model (HMM) to probabilistically assign two behavioural states to each temporal bin: rest (R) or active (A). We used a zero-inflated Poisson HMM implemented in the ziphsmm package. During these months, two different periods in the reproduction of this species were included: the pre-spawning period and the spawning period. For this purpose, the data were separated into two different datasets: the pre-spawning period dataset, which contains all individuals tracked for at least seven days between April 30 and May 31, and the spawning period dataset, which includes all individuals tracked for at least seven days between June 15 and July 31. The data between June 1 and June 15 were discarded due to maintenance tasks on the acoustic receivers. The data from August and September were discarded due to low data yields. Finally, a third dataset was created, which includes individuals tracked for at least seven days in each period. The three datasets are configured in the same manner, with ID as the identifier for each individual, Day as the tracking date, Dayn as the day of the trial, Awakening Time as the activity onset time in minutes relative to sunrise, Rest Onset as the rest onset time in minutes relative to sunset, RelActivityDuration as the active hours (calculated as the difference between the awakening time and rest onset) relative to daylight hours (calculated as the difference between sunrise and sunset), RelRestDuration as the resting hours (c

The pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula), commonly known as raor in the Balearic Islands, is a wrasse within the family Labridae. This fish species has particular biological and socio-cultural characteristics making it an ideal model organism in the fields of behavioural ecology, molecular ecology and conservation biology. In this study, we present the first annotated chromosome-level assembly for this species. Sequencing involved a combination of long reads with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, Illumina paired-end short reads (2 × 151 bp), Hi-C and RNA-seq from different tissues. The nuclear genome assembly has a scaffold N50 of 34.33 Mb, a total assembly span of 775.53 Mb and 99.63% of the sequence assembled into 24 superscaffolds, consistent with its known karyotype. Quality metrics revealed a consensus accuracy (QV) of 42.92 and gene completeness > 98%. The genome annotation resulted in 26,690 protein-coding genes and 12,737 non-coding transcripts. The coding regions encoded 39,613 unique protein products, 93% of them with assigned function. Overall, the publication of the X. novacula's reference genome will broaden the scope and impact of genomic research conducted on this iconic and colourful species.

This data set is supplementary material for the article "Types of behaviour related to aggressiveness in pearlescent fish". Animal personality has a very relevant implication in a multitude of eco-evolutionary processes. It is a topic very approached in freshwater fish, not so in marine species, because its captivity is a challenge to reproduce its natural habitat. this is the first evidence of behavioural traits in the pearly razorfish. For this, we designed experiments in the laboratory, where the experimental individuals were subjected to the mirror test—a widely used test to determine each individual's aggressiveness. By not recognizing their reflection in the mirror, fish perceive their reflection as the intrusion of another individual into their territory. Thanks to these experiments, we were able to determine each individual's aggressiveness score, finding significant differences between individuals. Differences found regardless of height, sex or individual condition. These findings suggest that this species' aggressiveness may have a genetic origin, as has been demonstrated in other species.

Here we provide data for a manuscript in which we describe the atypical song of a male white-throated sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis). We observed this male over multiple breeding seasons at our Cranberry Lake study site (Adirondack Mountains; New York; 44.15N, 74.78W). We recorded the male singing, and also made observations regarding his failure to obtain reproductive success. In addition, as the male was banded as a nestling, we were able to compare his morphometric measurements at the time to the population average. Our observations of this unique individual support a connection between developmental stress, atypical song, and fitness outcomes.

The ocean is a key component of the Earth's dynamics, providing a great variety of ecosystem services to humans. Yet, human activities are globally changing its structure and major components, including marine biodiversity. In this context, the United Nations has proclaimed a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development to tackle the scientific challenges necessary for a sustainable use of the ocean by means of the Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG14). Here, we review how Acoustic animal Tracking, a widely distributed methodology of tracking marine biodiversity with electronic devices, can provide a roadmap for implementing the major Actions to achieve the SDG14. We show that acoustic tracking can be used to reduce and monitor the effects of marine pollution including noise, light, and plastic pollution. Acoustic tracking can be effectively used to monitor the responses of marine biodiversity to human-made infrastructures and habitat restoration, as well as to determine the effects of hypoxia, ocean warming, and acidification. Acoustic tracking has been historically used to inform fisheries management, the design of marine protected areas, and the detection of essential habitats, rendering this technique particularly attractive to achieve the sustainable fishing and spatial protection target goals of the SDG14. Finally, acoustic tracking can contribute to end illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing by providing tools to monitor marine biodiversity against poachers and promote the development of Small Islands Developing States and developing countries. To fully benefit from acoustic tracking supporting the SDG14 Targets, trans-boundary collaborative efforts through tracking networks are required to promote ocean information sharing and ocean literacy. We therefore propose acoustic tracking and tracking networks as relevant contributors to tackle the scientific challenges that are necessary for a sustainable use of the ocean promoted by the United Natio

Deep learning allows us to automatize the acquisition of large amounts of behavioural animal data with applications for fisheries and aquaculture. In this work, we have trained an image-based deep learning algorithm, the Faster R-CNN (Faster region-based convolutional neural network), to automatically detect and track the gilthead seabream, Sparus aurata, to search for individual differences in behaviour. We collected videos using a novel Raspberry Pi high throughput recording system attached to individual experimental behavioural arenas. From the continuous recording during behavioural assays, we acquired and labelled a total of 14,000 images and used them, along with data augmentation techniques, to train the network. Then, we evaluated the performance of our network at different training levels, increasing the number of images and applying data augmentation. For every validation step, we processed more than 52,000 images, with and without the presence of the gilthead seabream, in normal and altered (i.e., after the introduction of a non-familiar object to test for explorative behaviour) behavioural arenas. The final and best version of the neural network, trained with all the images and with data augmentation, reached an accuracy of 92,79% ± 6.78% [89.24–96.34] of correct classification and 10.25 ± 61.59 pixels [6.59-13.91] of fish positioning error. Our recording system based on a Raspberry Pi and a trained convolutional neural network provides a valuable non-invasive tool to automatically track fish movements in experimental arenas and, using the trajectories obtained during behavioural tests, to assay behavioural types.

Motorboat noise is recognized as a major source of marine pollution, however little is known about its ecological consequences on coastal systems. We developed a State Space Model (SSM) that incorporates an explicit dependency on motorboat noise to derive its effects on the movement of resident fish that transition between two behavioural states (swimming vs. hidden). To explore the performance of our model, we carried out an experiment where free-living Serranus scriba were tracked with acoustic tags, while motorboat noise was simultaneously recorded. We fitted the generated tracking and noise data into our SSM and explored if the noise generated by motorboats passing at close range affected the movement pattern and the probability of transition between the two states using a Bayesian approach. Our results suggest high among individual variability in movement patterns and transition between states, as well as in fish response to the presence of passing motorboats. These findings suggest that the effects of motorboat noise on fish movement are complex and require the precise monitoring of large numbers of individuals. Our SSM provides a methodology to address such complexity and can be used for future investigations to study the effects of noise pollution on marine fish.

Behavioural types (i.e., personalities or temperament) are defined as among individual differences in behavioural traits that are consistent over time and ecological contexts. Behavioural types are widespread in nature and play a relevant role in many ecological and evolutionary processes. In this work, we studied for the first time the consistency of individual aggressiveness in the pearly razorfish, Xyrichtys novacula, using a mirror test: a classic method to define aggressive behavioural types. The experiments were carried out in semi-natural behavioural arenas and monitored through a novel Raspberry Pi-based recording system. The experimental set up allowed us to obtain repeated measures of individual aggressivity scores during four consecutive days. The decomposition of the phenotypic variance revealed a significant repeatability score (R) of 0.57 [0.44–0.60], suggesting high predictability of individual behavioural variation and the existence of different behavioural types. Aggressive behavioural types emerged irrespective of body size, sex and the internal condition of the individual. Razorfishes are a ubiquitous group of fish species that occupy sedimentary habitats in most shallow waters of temperate and tropical seas. These species are known for forming strong social structures and playing a relevant role in ecosystem functioning. Therefore, our work provides novel insight into an individual behavioural component that may play a role in poorly known ecological and evolutionary processes occurring in this species.

Despite their potential to generate high-quality positioning data, the use of high-resolution acoustic telemetry systems (HRATS) has been neglected in coastal marine areas due to the limitations that these environments pose to the transmission of acoustic signals. In this work, we applied a HRATS and social network analysis (SNA) to study the social interactions of the pearly razorfish (Xyrichtys novacula), a small coastal wrasse, in a Mediterranean marine reserve. Our analysis was based on proximity measures estimated from high-resolution trajectories from 232 individuals tracked during 55 days within a marine protected area. Associations were defined as the proportion of 5-min intervals in which two individuals were observed within 1 m from each other, and social networks were generated for the overall tracking period and for each particular day. The obtained network parameters were contrasted against 1,000 null association models obtained by randomly redistributing individual trajectories within the study area. The obtained networks showed a harem-like social structure, with agonistic behavior between males and larger association indices between individuals of different sex. Occasionally, sporadic associations of large groups of females were observed conducting excursions along the study area. By providing a comprehensive view of the organizational structure of the pearly razorfish, our study demonstrates the potential of HRATS to efficiently produce high-throughput tracking data from large numbers of individuals and of proper null social model formulation to reconstruct the social networks in wild-living marine fish populations. The combination of HRATS and SNA represents a powerful tool to study key ecological processes regarding the social interactions of individuals, including social dynamics, collective movements, and the response to environmental perturbations.

In this paper, we report the complete mitochondrial genome (17,306 bp) of the pearly razorfish Xyrichtys novacula Linnaeus, 1758, a labrid that inhabits tropical and temperate Atlantic waters and the Mediterranean Sea. The circular double-stranded sequence contains the typical teleost gene order with 13 protein-coding genes, 22 tRNA, 2 rRNA, 1 control region, and 2 intergenic spacers between the rRNAs. Using the sequences of all protein-coding genes, we inferred the phylogeny for the Labriade family using 24 labrids and 3 outgroup species that placed X. novacula in a monophyletic group including species from the Pseudocheilines, Pseudolabrines, and Julidines.

The datasets are suplementary materials for the article "A State-Space model to derive motorboat noise effects on fish movement from acoustic tracking data". Motorboat noise is recognized as a major source of marine pollution, however little is known about its ecological consequences on coastal systems. We developed a State Space Model (SSM) that incorporates an explicit dependency on motorboat noise to derive its effects on the movement of resident fish that transition between two behavioural states (swimming vs. hidden). To explore the performance of our model, we carried out an experiment where free-living Serranus scriba were tracked with acoustic tags, while motorboat noise was simultaneously recorded. We fitted the generated tracking and noise data into our SSM and explored if the noise generated by motorboats passing at close range affected the movement pattern and the probability of transition between the two states using a Bayesian approach. Our results suggest high among individual variability in movement pattern and transition between states, as well as in fish response to the presence of passing motorboats. These findings suggest that the effects of motorboat noise on fish movement are complex and require the precise monitoring of large numbers of individuals. Our SSM provides a methodology to address such complexity and can be used for future investigations to study the effects of noise pollution on marine fish.

Behavioural polymorphisms associated with morphs with a known genetic basis are interesting to study since they provide a model system to investigate the molecular basis of complex behaviours. White-throated sparrows are one of such rare models, presenting two morphologies and behavioural types, tan and white, caused by a chromosomal rearrangement. The behavioural differences have been mainly studied during reproduction, defining two morph-specific breeding strategies and different levels of aggression between morphs. Outside of the breeding season, the morphological differences are less apparent, morphs are more difficult to distinguish and the behavioural polymorphism is poorly understood. In this study, we caught wild individuals during the winter, determined their morph by genetic analysis, and analysed the differences in behaviour between morphs when encountering a novel object under standardized conditions in captivity. White morphs are more aggressive during reproduction; therefore, we expected them to be less affected by the presence of the novel object than tan morphs; animal personality research shows that more aggressive individuals are less affected by the presence of novel objects (i.e. neophilic). Contrary to our expectations, white morphs were more neophobic than tan morphs, and within morphs, males were more neophobic than females. Furthermore, white morph individuals and males of both morphs suffered greater weight loss during captivity compared to tan morphs and females, respectively, suggesting that the response to captivity-induced stress differs between morphs and between sexes. Finding behavioural differences between morphs not related to reproduction implies a broader impact of the effects of the chromosomal rearrangement on the behavioural polymorphism in this species.