Personality, predation, and group size: Unravelling behavioural drivers of lionfish (Pterois volitans) invasion success

McCard, M ORCID: 0000-0003-1067-882X, Alujević, K, McCard, N, Arnott, G, Kregting, L, Dick, J and South, J Personality, predation, and group size: Unravelling behavioural drivers of lionfish (Pterois volitans) invasion success. Royal Society Open Science. (Accepted)

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Abstract

Global biodiversity is in rapid decline, with invasive alien species playing a major role. Predicting which are most damaging and under what conditions is key to proactive management. We investigated whether behavioural traits, specifically boldness and exploration, predict ecological impact in the invasive red lionfish (Pterois volitans). Despite the modest sample size of adults (n = 8) and juvenile (n = 8) lionfish, using repeated behavioural assays, we found strong personality consistency: 93% of juveniles and 56% of adults used shelter, with traits like latency to interact with novel objects showing high repeatability. Bold individuals spent less time in shelter and interacted more with novel stimuli. However, in groups of eight, personality expression shifted, only 7% of juveniles and 44% of adults used shelter, indicating that social context alters behaviour. Functional response experiments revealed Type II feeding curves across three prey species, reflecting a saturating, hyperbolic relationship in which predators rapidly consume prey at low densities but are increasingly constrained by handling time as prey density rises. Neither adult nor juvenile lionfish reduced feeding effort when prey became scarce, allowing them to exert strong predation pressure even at low prey densities. Adults displayed significantly higher attack rates and shorter handling times on Artemia salina, whereas juveniles showed these patterns towards Gammarus oceanicus, underscoring the greater per capita feeding impact of adults. Contrary to expectations, boldness did not correlate with feeding impact but was linked to slower reaction times in shy individuals. These findings highlight the complex, context-dependent relationship between personality and ecological impact during invasions.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Personality; predator-prey interactions.; functional response; invasive species
Subjects:	Q Science > QL Zoology
Divisions:	Biological and Environmental Sciences (from Sep 19)
Publisher:	The Royal Society
Date of acceptance:	5 September 2025
Date of first compliant Open Access:	5 September 2025
Date Deposited:	05 Sep 2025 15:38
Last Modified:	05 Sep 2025 15:45
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27105

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