Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish
Social competence—defined as the ability to optimize social behaviour according to available social information—can be influenced by the social environment experienced in early life. In cooperatively breeding vertebrates, the current group size influences behavioural phenotypes, but it is not known...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230740 |
| _version_ | 1827180266507993088 |
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| author | Océane La Loggia Alastair J. Wilson Barbara Taborsky |
| author_facet | Océane La Loggia Alastair J. Wilson Barbara Taborsky |
| author_sort | Océane La Loggia |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Social competence—defined as the ability to optimize social behaviour according to available social information—can be influenced by the social environment experienced in early life. In cooperatively breeding vertebrates, the current group size influences behavioural phenotypes, but it is not known whether the group size experienced in early life influences behavioural phenotypes generally or social competence specifically. We tested whether being reared in large versus small groups for the first two months of life affects social behaviours, and associated life-history traits, in the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher between the ages of four and twelve months. As we predicted, fish raised in larger and more complex groups showed higher social competence later in life. This was shown in several ways: they exhibited more, and earlier, submissive behaviour in response to aggression from a dominant conspecific, and—in comparison to fish raised in small groups—they exhibited more flexibility in the expression of submissive behaviour. By contrast, there was no evidence that early social complexity, as captured by the group size, affects aggression or exploration behaviour nor did it influence the propensity to disperse or show helping behaviour. Our results emphasize the importance of early-life social complexity for the development of social competence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-24T13:55:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e0b1903387754e759da6987de95338c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-03-21T05:28:11Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-e0b1903387754e759da6987de95338c42024-07-25T10:32:52ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032024-03-0111310.1098/rsos.230740Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fishOcéane La Loggia0Alastair J. Wilson1Barbara Taborsky2Institute for Ecology and Evolution, Behavioural Ecology Division, University of Bern , Bern, SwitzerlandCentre for Ecology and Conservation, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter , Penryn, UKInstitute for Ecology and Evolution, Behavioural Ecology Division, University of Bern , Bern, SwitzerlandSocial competence—defined as the ability to optimize social behaviour according to available social information—can be influenced by the social environment experienced in early life. In cooperatively breeding vertebrates, the current group size influences behavioural phenotypes, but it is not known whether the group size experienced in early life influences behavioural phenotypes generally or social competence specifically. We tested whether being reared in large versus small groups for the first two months of life affects social behaviours, and associated life-history traits, in the cooperatively breeding cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher between the ages of four and twelve months. As we predicted, fish raised in larger and more complex groups showed higher social competence later in life. This was shown in several ways: they exhibited more, and earlier, submissive behaviour in response to aggression from a dominant conspecific, and—in comparison to fish raised in small groups—they exhibited more flexibility in the expression of submissive behaviour. By contrast, there was no evidence that early social complexity, as captured by the group size, affects aggression or exploration behaviour nor did it influence the propensity to disperse or show helping behaviour. Our results emphasize the importance of early-life social complexity for the development of social competence.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230740social behaviourlife-history traitsdevelopmental plasticitycichlidsearly-life effects |
| spellingShingle | Océane La Loggia Alastair J. Wilson Barbara Taborsky Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish Royal Society Open Science social behaviour life-history traits developmental plasticity cichlids early-life effects |
| title | Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish |
| title_full | Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish |
| title_fullStr | Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish |
| title_short | Early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish |
| title_sort | early social complexity influences social behaviour but not social trajectories in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish |
| topic | social behaviour life-history traits developmental plasticity cichlids early-life effects |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.230740 |
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