Personality traits and Pan I locus data of Atlantic cod juveniles

Animals show among-individual variation in behaviours, including migration behaviours, which are often repeatable across time periods and contexts, commonly termed “personality”. These behaviours can be correlated, forming a behavioural syndrome. In this study, we assessed the repeatability and correlation of different behavioural traits i.e., boldness, exploration, and sociality and the link to feeding migration patterns in Atlantic cod juveniles. To do so, we collected repeated measurements within two short-term (three days) and two long-term (two months) intervals of these personality traits and genotypes of the Pan I locus, which is correlated to feeding migration patterns in this species. We found high repeatabilities for exploration behaviour in the short- and long-term intervals, and a trend for the relationship between exploration and the Pan I locus. Boldness and sociality were only repeatable in the second short-term interval indicating a possible development of stability over..., The methods followed the same protocol as described in Beukeboom et al. 2022; 102 age 0+ cod juveniles (weight range = 0.75-4.39 g and mean = 1.87 g; standard length range = 3.83-7.55 cm and mean = 5.72 cm) were beach seined from the 3rd to 12th of October 2019 in three different fjords around the Westfjords of Iceland to obtain genetical variation. They were transported to a laboratory in Bolungarvik, Iceland and housed individually in 9.5-litre tanks (~29x21x19cm, water level 16 cm, Aquaneering Inc.). The recirculating system contained freshwater mixed with marine salt to achieve a natural salinity of 30 ± 2‰, a temperature of 11 ± 1°C (November) and 10 ± 1°C (December-June), ammonia levels of <0.5 ppm, oxygen levels of 10.4 ± 0.1 mg/L and a constant photoperiod of 12 hr:12 hr (7 AM-7 PM GMT). The water circulated through the Aquaneering system, passing through all the tanks, a biofilter, sieves (mesh size 25 µm), and a UV light for sterilization. Every tank had a grey PVC pipe to ...,