The Bold-Shy Continuum of the Freckled Hawkfish

The first project of the 2019 expedition is entitled “Investigating the Bold-shy continuum of the Freckled Hawkfish Paracirrhites forsteri and their associated microhabitat preference” and will be conducted by Fraser. The study looks to investigate the behavioural differences between individuals of the same species. Essentially, certain individuals are ‘bold’ whilst others are ‘shy’, and this is referring to their willingness to take risks in order to gain a greater fitness/likelihood of survival. For example, a ‘bold’ Hawkfish may stray further away from shelter in order to reach a better food source, but because of this they put themselves at a greater risk of predation than the ‘shy’ individuals who favour safety over a greater food supply. 

The Freckled Hawkfish, Paracirrhites foresteri

In this study Fraser aims to compare the Growth rate and Mortality rate of the ‘Bold’ and ‘Shy’ Hawkfish with the data gathered during previous expeditions and by doing so he will be able to establish the selective pressures (influencers) which affect the individual’s behavioural stance. Additionally, Fraser is interested if habitat choice plays a role in the level of boldness of an individual, thus investigating if certain fish show preference for specific substrate. The study will be conducted on the Abu Sauatir reef and will involve 3 days of diving, while the rest of the week will be spent analysing the results. 

In order to collect his data Fraser and his dive buddy will be using video cameras and will work along a specific pre-determined course. The dive buddy is required to take the photos and videos of the Hawkfish and the surrounding environment, whilst Fraser approaches slowly until the fish retreats. Once the encounter is finished Fraser will release a GPS attached to a Buoy to allow the location/individual encounter to be Geo tagged. The support diver will then follow the Hawkfish and take a photograph of the left side of the individual. It must be the left-hand side because Hawkfish have unique markings and previous expeditions always photograph the left-hand side which will allow Fraser to recognise the individuals he encounters with the fish encountered in previous years. The video content will then be analysed, and the level of boldness can be recorded for each individual encountered.  

Methodology for Freckled Hawkfish Project

Message from Fraser

I decided to undertake a fish behavioural study as I've always had an expressed interested in how and why animals behave in their natural environments. Animal personality is an increasing field of scientific research that captivates me and has led to my decision to try and conduct an honours projects on Hawkfish ‘personality traits’. The choices a Hawkfish make will directly affect its likelihood of survival and overall fitness. I am interested in if some choices have an advantage over others and if there is such a thing as a ‘poor choice’ in the natural world.  Whether these traits spawn from experience or if they are genetically linked, why animals do what they do continues to captivate the scientific community and have inspired me to undertake this research.