Behaviour, physiology and carotenoid pigmentation in Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus

• Published in: Journal of fish biology Vol. 84; no. 1; pp. 1 - 9
• Main Authors: Backström, T., Brännäs, E., Nilsson, J., Magnhagen, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.01.2014; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: activity; Animals; Aquaculture; Behavior, Animal - physiology; Carotenoids - physiology; confinement stress; Ecology; Ekologi; Exploratory Behavior - physiology; Fish; Forest Science; Freshwater; Hydrocortisone - blood; Pigmentation; Salmonidae; Salvelinus alpinus; Skogsvetenskap; Stress; Stress, Physiological; stress-coping style; Trout - physiology; activity; stress-coping style; confinement stress
• ISSN: 0022-1112; 1095-8649; 1095-8649
• DOI: 10.1111/jfb.12240

The behaviour during an exploration task and the response to a confinement stress of Arctic charr Salvelinus alpinus were evaluated. Behaviour of individuals during 90 min of exploration was classified into high and low activity. High‐activity individuals had higher plasma cortisol levels following stress compared to low‐activity individuals. This indicates that high‐ and low‐activity individuals correspond to reactive and proactive stress‐coping styles. Further, a pigmentation analysis showed that high‐activity individuals had a higher number of carotenoid spots cm−2 than low‐activity individuals. Thus, carotenoid pigmentation, as melanin pigmentation in other salmonids, could be linked to stress‐coping style in S. alpinus.