In my last post I informed you on the existence of personalities in dumpling squid. Today’s post is a variation on that theme. A recent study in Animal Behaviour shows us one of the consequences animal personality has in the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus.

Scientists studied individual differences in the quality of nest constructions. They hypothesized that if nest construction does reliably reflect builder quality, one would expect consistent variation between individuals in this trait. To test this hypothesis they encouraged male sticklebacks of 4 different populations to complete three consecutive nests. The quality of the nest was based on a number of measurements as total substrate used, construction time, area of the nest, nest compactness, etc. Within populations, the number of threads used, the area of the nest and the mass of substrate deposited on top of the nest were all consistent within males, showing that individual male three-spined sticklebacks differed consistently in the size and composition of the nests they produced. Studies of fitness consequences of nest construction in three-spined sticklebacks will be the subject of future research.

For more information, see the paper: Rushbrook, B.J., Dingemanse, N.J., Barber, I., 2008. Repeatability in nest construction by male three-spined sticklebacks. Animal Behaviour, 75, 547-553.