Relationship between boldness and exploratory behavior in adult zebrafish

Behavioral responses vary between individuals and may be repeated in different contexts over time. When a behavioral response set is linked and present regardless of the context, it characterizes a behavioral syndrome. By evaluating how bold and shy (profiles related to risk-taking) individuals perform about exploration and anxiety, we can predict relationships of behavioral syndromes and better understand how different axis of personality is formed. Here we classified the profiles by risk-taking and evaluated their exploration behavior in the open field test. In this context, the two groups showed significant differences in thigmotaxis behavior: bold individuals habituate faster and show decreased thigmotaxis (less anxiety), while shy ones are less prone to leave the security of the side areas of the open tank and present higher anxiety. We emphasized the importance of further investigating the behavior of these profiles in other contexts and the importance of each one for the evolution and fitness of the species, in addition to a better understanding of which behaviors are involved in the behavioral syndromes in zebrafish.