Who says fish are boring?
Some fish are active, some not.
Some are risk-takers ; others, scaredy-fish.
University of Guelph scientists noticed this as they sat by the Credit River, west of Toronto, watching trout feed.
So they scooped up the young fish, brought them to the lab aquarium and ran them through six days of personality tests.
The "personality" theory is starting to catch on with respect to our views of much of the animal kingdom, says Rob McLaughlin and student Alex Wilson found the trouts' personalities stayed distinct even after the fish left their natural homes.
For instance, when researchers put the fish in a dark tube in the aquarium, the more active ones emerged into the main body of the tank first.
Presumably, they were more ready to take risks and less afraid of an unfamiliar environment.
"We were getting this sense that they perceive the environment differently," says McLaughlin,"and the kinds of things we measured are part of what people are starting to call personality traits in animals."
RDPETS , JULY 2008
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